HUGE RISE IN ARCTIC METHANE EMISSIONS
18 January 2010
Methane emissions have risen by almost a third in 5 years, as previously frozen boggy soils melt, releasing methane in large quantities. Sharply rising temperatures are to blame, and the fear is that the warming caused by increased emissions will release yet more methane and lock the region into a destructive cycle, with temperatures rising faster than predicted. Global warming is occurring twice as fast in the Arctic as elsewhere.
Paul Palmer, scientist at Edinburgh University, who has worked on the study revealing this information said that the report does not show that the Arctic has passed a “tipping point”, but it should make people aware of the situation that higher temperatures bring higher emissions and faster warming.
The findings are part of a wider study of methane emissions from global wetlands. Only 2% of global methane comes from the Arctic, but the region showed the largest increases.
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