
Warmer ocean may be releasing frozen methane - spenrose
http://news.agu.org/press-release/bubble-plumes-off-washington-oregon-suggest-warmer-ocean-may-be-releasing-frozen-methane/
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spenrose
“We see an unusually high number of bubble plumes at the depth where methane
hydrate would decompose if seawater has warmed,” said lead author H. Paul
Johnson, a University of Washington professor of oceanography. “So it is not
likely to be just emitted from the sediments; this appears to be coming from
the decomposition of methane that has been frozen for thousands of years.”

Methane has contributed to sudden swings in Earth’s climate in the past. It is
unknown what role it might contribute to contemporary climate change, although
recent studies have reported warming-related methane emissions in Arctic
permafrost and off the Atlantic coast.

