Methane

[biffvernon]

If so then the latter are irrational in their analysis.

I wasn't suggesting that we needn't worry about methane!!!
Just that describing methane in terms of a CO2 equivalent is problematic.

[Little John]

Woodburner -

I've no means of telling what three 'smileys' are intended to convey.

Regarding commensurate action, a para of my post above may have escaped your attention:
"Not wishing to aid those who prefer to wallow in defeatism, I would add that we are perfectly capable of resolving the problem by the addition of the necessary and sufficient Albedo Restoration and Carbon Recovery protocols to the treaty. What is in question is not the technical ability but the popular will to insist that these measures are employed ASAP before the feedbacks accelerate beyond the possibility of control - and that is up to each and every individual. "

Regarding the runt Osborne, while I don't advocate capital punishment, if he had the fortune to be splatted by a falling tree while out slaughtering pheasants, I guess it would seem to many like a remarkable example of poetic justice. Should any patriot be fed up with waiting for such luck and decide to shoot him instead, I hope they'd have the wisdom to go for an arse shot while he is being filmed - this would make him a laughing stock and end the plausibility of his policies.

Regards,

Lewis

Haha I think I quite like the way of your thinking there.

[biffvernon]

More methane data:

http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2013/08 ... globe.html

[biffvernon]

It doesn't get better: http://arctic-news.blogspot.co.uk/2013/ ... rophe.html

[woodburner]

No problem, Gazprom can send one of their harvesters along. They will be able to press-gang the staff from the visitors.

It could be connected to ice meltingand subsequent seismic activity.

There's a lot of it about.

[biffvernon]

Not good...

http://www.adn.com/2013/11/30/3205668/r ... aking.html

http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop ... o2007.html

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Vast quantities of carbon are stored in shallow Arctic reservoirs, such as submarine and terrestrial permafrost. Submarine permafrost on the East Siberian Arctic Shelf started warming in the early Holocene, several thousand years ago. However, the present state of the permafrost in this region is uncertain. Here, we present data on the temperature of submarine permafrost on the East Siberian Arctic Shelf using measurements collected from a sediment core, together with sonar-derived observations of bubble flux and measurements of seawater methane levels taken from the same region. The temperature of the sediment core ranged from −1.8 to 0 °C. Although the surface layer exhibited the lowest temperatures, it was entirely unfrozen, owing to significant concentrations of salt. On the basis of the sonar data, we estimate that bubbles escaping the partially thawed permafrost inject 100–630 mg methane m−2 d−1 into the overlying water column. We further show that water-column methane levels had dropped significantly following the passage of two storms. We suggest that significant quantities of methane are escaping the East Siberian Shelf as a result of the degradation of submarine permafrost over thousands of years. We suggest that bubbles and storms facilitate the flux of this methane to the overlying ocean and atmosphere, respectively.

Ebullition - now there's an interesting word.