by Playfuls Staff |
21st July 2006
U.S. scientists say methane escaping from the ocean floor may be affecting global warming cycles and climate changes more than previously believed. [more]
University of California-Santa Barbara scientists say they developed the hypothesis while observing a massive blowout of methane from the ocean floor.
Atmospheric methane is at least 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide and is the most abundant organic compound in the atmosphere.
"Other people have reported this type of methane blowout, but no one has ever checked the numbers until now," said Ira Leifer, lead author and an associate researcher with UCSB's Marine Science Institute. "Ours is the first set of numbers associated with a seep blowout."
Aside from underwater measurements, a nearby meteorological station measured the methane "cloud" that emerged as being approximately 5,000 cubic feet, or equal to the volume of the first floor of a two-bedroom house.
Leifer said during that type of blowout, virtually all the methane gas escapes into the atmosphere. And that, he said, affects climate.
Leifer and co-author Bruce Luyendyk, a professor of marine geophysics and geological sciences, report their findings in the online version of the scientific journal, Global Biogeochemical Cycles.
© 2006 UPI
