UAF researchers' methane discovery could change climate equation

[ensho]

http://newsminer.com/view/full_story/6570195/article-UAF-researchers--methane-discovery-could-change-climate-equation-?instance=home_lead_story


A research team led by a pair of University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists has made a surprising and potentially troubling discovery — a vast section of the Arctic Ocean is emitting millions of tons of methane gas.

The findings, which were published in today’s edition of the journal Science, could have significant implications for climate change projections. Methane is among the most potent of the greenhouse gases, which most scientists believe are responsible for a recent spike in global temperatures.

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“The baseline for these emissions should be zero,” said Natalia Shakhova, a UAF research scientists who helped lead the project.
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its too late

[aquart]

1. I read about the methane over a year ago.

Maybe this is the first time they have proof the gas that was predicted to escape IS escaping. Gonna kill us all, isn't it? Oh, well.

[Igel]

2. I'd have liked a statement saying that

previous research in the area showed that none was escaping.

"'The baseline for these emissions should be zero,' said Natalia Shakhova, a UAF research scientists who helped lead the project" doesn't say that. I've learned to be careful in my assumptions; if somebody doesn't state something that should be obvious but which only takes a sentence, there's often a good reason for it. (Just what that reason is usually remains a mystery; at times, it's been because the simple statement would be false, and at others it's just trivially true.)