A Spanish research team aboard the 'Sarmiento de Gamboa' has discovered enormous methane emissions under Antarctic waters, which could dramatically impact the global climate. The methane, which can warm the planet 30 times more than CO2, was found in previously uncharted columns stretching up to 700 meters long. These leaks stem from methane hydrates, formed 20,000 years ago, being released as the Antarctic ice sheet thins due to climate change. Researchers estimate there are around 24 gigatons of carbon stored in these hydrates, posing a serious environmental risk.
These previously unknown emissions could potentially represent an environmental bomb for the planet's climate. Scientists have observed columns of methane in the ocean reaching unprecedented lengths and widths.
The thinning of the enormous Antarctic ice sheet is causing a decrease in weight on the land, leading to a rise in the continent’s land mass; this phenomenon favors the release of frozen methane.
We have estimated that in this area there are some 24 gigatons of carbon accumulated in methane hydrates, an amount equivalent to what all of humanity emits in two years.
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