Evidence points towards methane seeping from Arctic sea bed

October 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, ecologists estimate that Arctic lands and oceans are responsible for up to 25 percent of the global net sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). In their review paper, David McGuire of the US Geological Survey and the University of Alaska at Fairbanks and his colleagues show that the Arctic has been a carbon sink since the end of the last Ice Age, which over time has accounted for between zero and 25 percent, or up to about 800 million metric tons, of the global carbon sink.

October 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Arctic land and seas lock up as much as a fourth of the world's carbon dioxide, so the melting of Arctic ice can potentially alter climate, says a new study. Current levels of global warming could diminish or reverse this vast Arctic sink -- one of the world's biggest -- possibly upsetting expected rates of climate change.

September 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - New findings by scientists indicate that that Arctic ice would last decades longer than thought, and the region won't experience ice-free summers until 2030 or 2040. Some models had previously predicted that the Arctic could be ice free in summer by as soon as 2013, due to rising temperatures from global warming.

September 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists are worrying that rising global temperatures accompanied by melting permafrost in arctic regions will initiate the release of underground methane into the atmosphere. Once released, that methane gas would speed up global warming by trapping the Earth's heat radiation about 20 times more efficiently than does the better-known greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2).

August 18th, 2009 TORONTO - Methane emission by plants in dry or drought prone areas could aggravate global warming more than previously suspected, says a new study. A University of Calgary (U-C) study warns that plants exposed to environmental factors -- rising temperature, drought and ultraviolet-B radiation -- show enhanced methane emissions.

August 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists at the University of Calgary (U of C) in Canada have found that methane emission by stressed crops could be a bigger problem in global warming than previously thought. According to a U of C study, when crops are exposed to environmental factors that are part of climate change - increased temperature, drought and ultraviolet-B radiation - some plants show enhanced methane emissions.

August 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have found that the warming of the northward-flowing West Spitsbergen current in the Arctic over the last thirty years has contributed to global warming by triggering the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from methane hydrate stored in the sediment beneath the seabed. Methane hydrate is an ice-like substance composed of water and methane, which is stable in conditions of high pressure and low temperature.

August 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has concluded that if there's any life on Mars, it's not likely to exist on or just below the planet's surface because rapid destruction of methane would make the Red Planet's environment too hostile to support life. The discovery of rich plumes of methane on Mars earlier this year fed theories that the planet could host underground colonies of microorganisms.

August 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has discovered significant cloud formation within the tropical zone near the equator of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, which is evidence that the parched, dry desert of the natural satellite can support large-scale storms. The evidence comes from a team of US astronomers using the Gemini North telescope and NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) both on Hawaii's Mauna Kea.

August 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - New calculations suggest that methane gas on Mars may be destroyed 600 times faster than it is on Earth, and possibly in as little as one hour, which is bad news for scientists hoping to find life on the Red Planet. If so, whatever process is responsible for the destruction of methane, may be wiping out other organic molecules, which are necessary for life as we know it.

July 9th, 2009 LONDON - In a new study, scientists have said that as global warming removes the Arctic's icy lid, the region is expected to teem with life by the year 2030. According to a report in New Scientist, the study of what the Arctic looked like just before dinosaurs were wiped off the planet has provided a glimpse of what could be to come within decades.

July 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Data from a NASA Earth-orbiting spacecraft has revealed a dramatic thinning of Arctic sea ice between the winters of 2004 and 2008, with thin seasonal ice replacing thick older ice as the dominant type for the first time on record. The new results provide further evidence for the rapid, ongoing transformation of the Arctic's ice cover.

July 5th, 2009 WASHINGTON - An analysis by scientists has suggested that the Arctic was an enclosed freshwater lake until about 38 million years ago, when tectonic activity caused it to undergo a transition to an ocean. Recent studies have suggested that beginning about 44 million years ago the Arctic underwent a transition from lake to ocean conditions.

May 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Large-scale agricultural burning in Russia, Kazakhstan, China, US, Canada and Ukraine is having a much greater impact on the melting of Arctic ice than previously suspected, according to latest research. A singular threat is springtime burning to remove crop residues for new planting or clear brush for grazing - because the black carbon or soot produced by the fires can lead to accelerated melting of snow and ice.

March 28th, 2009 LONDON - Scientists have reported the discovery of a methane-producing mineral on Mars. According to a report in Nature News, the evidence for the existence of the mineral, known as serpentine, was found by Bethany Ehlmann, a PhD student at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.