Methane plumes Arctic Ocean - a shocking discovery of over hundreds of gas plumes releasing methane bubbles from the Arctic seafloor is currently being examined by researchers in an attempt to identify its implications and possible connection to global warming.
Even though the gases emitted by the seafloor plumes are yet to be tested, scientists believe that the bubbles are certainly methane; hence, the rare finding is already dubbed by many news as the 'methane plumes Arctic Ocean' discovery, CBS News has learned.
"We don't know of any explanation that fits as well as methane," Mississippi State University geologist Adam Skarke, who is the lead study author on the 'methane plumes Arctic Ocean' discovery said.
An initial report on the study was published in the journal Natural Geoscience, and since its publication, many have voiced out their conflicting opinions on the possible implications of the 'methane plumes Arctic Ocean' discovery.
Methane is said to be a potent greenhouse gas. It is even far more threatening than other carbon-based greenhouse gases. Thus, several scientists associate the discovery of such large volumes of methane gas being emitted by Arctic Ocean seafloor plumes to "warming temperatures and ice melt" or simply global warming, according to Nature World News.
Experts in Stockholm University claim that the 'methane plumes Arctic Ocean' discovery is surprising not because the existence of methane-emitting plumes is unexpected but because the concentration of methane gas being released is somehow alarming.
The Environmental Protection Agency reports that methane is actually 20 times greater than carbon dioxide in triggering climate change. While the latter's effects are manifested within a 100-year-period, the drawbacks of excessive amounts of methane in the atmosphere could be felt and seen in a span of five years.
The methane plumes in the Arctic Ocean seafloor are believed to have originated from the large amount of gases that were once trapped under frozen water.
"It has recently been documented that a tongue of relatively warm Atlantic water, with a core at depths of 200-600 [meters] may have warmed up some in recent years," scientist Örjan Gustafsson said.
Meanwhile, other scientists maintain that the methane plumes in the Arctic Ocean do not readily contribute much methane into the atmosphere since most of the bubbles get dissolved in the ocean waters prior to even reaching the surface.
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