Study Finds Ice-Like Gases Could
Exacerbate Global Warming

Friday, May 21, 2004

The thawing of icy deposits of water, methane and other gases trapped beneath the ocean floor and in permafrost could compound global warming, British scientists said Wednesday.

Called gas hydrates, the ice-like mixtures of gases could be a "serious geohazard in the near future" because they can be destabilized by rising temperatures, according to a report by the Benfield Hazard Research Center <http://www.benfieldhrc.org/>. Their breakdown could release vast quantities of methane — a greenhouse gas 21 times more powerful than carbon dioxide — into the atmosphere, further trapping the sun's heat and accelerating global warming.

Such a release could speed climate change well beyond anticipated levels. According to report author Mark Maslin, U.N. assessments of global warming have not taken the threat from gas hydrates sufficiently into account. He suggested that the permafrost is already beginning to thaw.

"Alaska (a permafrost region) is already finding problems with subsidence of buildings and destabilization," Maslin said (Alister Doyle, Reuters <http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/25185/story.htm>, May 20).

Copyright, National Journal Group. Year 2004