A new USGS report challenges the consensus belief that a warming climate would lead to an explosive release of methane into the atmosphere from the breakdown of frozen methane hydrates.
Climate alarmists like Al Gore have called this the ‘methane bomb,’ where frozen hydrates stored beneath the permafrost and seabed floors warm up, allowing the trapped gas to escape.
The University of Rochester and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reviewed nearly a decade of preceding research done by USGS researchers and other scientific organizations studying these gas hydrates.
The report said that if continued warming continues unabated, any methane released from hydrates would be negligible and large amounts highly unlikely.
The report’s “sober, data-driven analyses” couldn’t find any evidence of a large-scale release of the odorless hydrocarbon. That likely won’t stop the media from stirring up fake fears:
Exclusive: The methane time bomb http://t.co/rfvVzUxfdN
— NEVILLE GILLMORE (@ARTHURSLEA) February 13, 2015
The methane bomb
Methane hydrate, aka methane clathrate, is a naturally occurring compound in which the gas gets trapped inside a lattice-like structure of water similar to ice.
It also remains stable at specific temperature and pressure ranges. Researchers have found significant deposits in undersea sediments greater than 1,000 feet and also beneath the permafrost at higher elevations.
