Ocean Methane Release: Another Deadly Effect of Global Warming

The oceans are these humongous crystal clear, bright blue millions upon billions of gallons of fresh water and salt water that are teeming with billions of species of life. Angelfish, Goldfish, Firefish, Jellyfish, Coral Reefs, and pure white sand ocean floors express only a grain of the beauty that lies beneath our Earth's waters. Although the Earth's waters are a wondrous sight, underneath that beauty are millions upon millions of tons of methane that is frozen, so to speak, at the bottom of those seas and oceans, called methane hydrate.

Methane hydrate lies just under the sea and oceans floor, and when those waters warm up, the methane bubbles to the surface in a gas form which then is released into the atmosphere and assisting with the greenhouse effect. For those of you that are not familiar with this term, the greenhouse effect occurs when average surface temperatures of the Earth warms as a result of enlarged amounts of gases building up in the atmosphere.

According to www.scientificamerican.com, with the rate of the oceans constant warming, oceans are releasing around 33 million tons of methane each year; and apparently this isn't the first time the Earth has seen such a rise in methane release. At an estimate of 16,000 years ago, the Earth felt the same peak of warming levels and global temperatures. www.sciencedaily.com also points out that scientists have data proving a huge methane release on a global scale that occurred around 600 million years ago.

So the Earth has gone through cycles of huge methane release, but there is one difference between the previous occurrences...that difference is man. 16,000 or 600 million years ago there were no steel mills, there were no vehicles, there were no power plants, there were no man made technology that caused the global warming cycle to speed up causing the more rapid discharge of ocean methane; until now.

Not only are our oceans releasing this dangerous methane, but methane has also been found to be released from permafrost soils. Permafrost is soil that is below the freezing point of water for more than two years. According to NASA Earth System Sciences Data and Services, more than 20% of the Earth's land mass is enclosed by permafrost and reach up to a thickness of over four thousand feet.

So what exactly can methane do when it is released, how much damage can it cause, and of course is it preventable?

Natural methane release can be very devastating. What we have to remember is that this release is completely natural, and not only released from the permafrost or just random frozen methane stored under the oceans. Methane also is released from the natural petroleum that seeps up through the oceans near coasts all over the world.

Methane is colorless and odorless, and can be burned easily as long as there is oxygen present, which assists in the devastation category. When methane is burned, it produces carbon dioxide and water. When the methane reaches the atmosphere, it can live in our atmosphere for seven years or more.

Depending on the amount of methane release, it can spike global temperatures as high as one third, which will also cause the rise in carbon dioxide levels. This harsh rise can cause a major trend of extinction for many species, including humans. Fortunately, methane is not toxic, but it is very flammable.

Methane is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. This is because the oceans contain about 97% of the Earth's water supply. Which means there is a large abundance of ocean floor that has the potential of holding this methane hydrate. According to www.climateark.com, there is a huge possibility that 90% of the Earth's oceans harbor methane just waiting for that slight rise in temperatures to be released into our atmosphere.

The damage due to methane directly is minimal, because like I said before its not toxic. However, when mixed into the atmosphere as a major contributor to global warming, it can cause mass destruction in days, months, or even years.

Plant life, for one, is another methane distributor, so direct methane will not do anything to the plant life. However, global warming caused by methane can create even the slightest temperature change that will stunt plant growth, stop plant growth, and throw the world's agriculture into a cataclysmic slump or stand still.

Animal life will begin migrating to different areas to find suitable food and water. Due to global warming caused by methane release, temperatures will warm high enough for ponds and streams to dry up, even cause massive droughts. The lack of basic necessities will push many animals on the verge of extinction.

Humans are no different than animals when it comes to struggling with global warming. We will migrate to areas that are more suitable for our needs, populations will grow in more condensed areas, food will become scarce, and diseases will increase.

Preventing methane release from our oceans ranks right up there with what we generally are trying to do to prevent global warming. By minimizing the amount of energy used, finding ways to run our industrial world in a cleaner fashion, as well as maintaining our natural habitats and forests instead of chopping them down to make way for more industries, all of this contributes to a longer life on Earth and a decrease in global warming devastation.

In conclusion, methane release is just another addition to the growing list of global warming threats that need to be considered when making proposals to saving our planet. As always, we have to remember that our planet was here first and we are just an expendable visitor.