Methane release in East Siberian Arctic sea.

Methane is a very powerful greenhouse gas and even though in time it will wash out of the atmosphere it is 72 times more powerful than CO2 over twenty years so it needs to be considered.
 Methane hydrates are essentially frozen methane held on the seabed by a combination of low temperatures and deep water pressure. If the water warms, the methane can be released and bubble to the surface and there are vast quantities held there, sufficient to change the climate rapidly, so it is of considerable concern.
Previous scientific analysis has said that the chances of  this happening are remote and up to now there has been little research in the area.

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In an interview between Nazeeth Ahmed of the Guardian and Prof Peter Wadhams, co-author of the Nature study and head of Polar ocean physics at Cambridge University it was explained that there is a completely new situation.
In a shortened version, the East Siberian continental shelf is very shallow and is normally frozen over and very cold and so it has held the methane hydrates safely  on the sea bed.
 The new situation is that the sea ice has melted for long periods in the summer and raised the temperature 7C and this is sufficient to melt the methane and release it to the surface.

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Professor Peter Wadhams is one of the few scientists to work in the field on the Siberian sea and like many scientists who work on the ice he is considerably more concerned than the rest of the scientific community.

Something to watch closely and no doubt there will be more research ships in the region next summer. 

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