Permafrost
in Siberia.
Methane emissions from the Arctic permafrost increased by 31% from 2003-07,
figures show. Photograph: Francis Latreille/Corbis
Our planet Earth has experienced five major species extinctions
over the past billion years and the common denominator has always been a sudden
acceleration in Global Warming with the rapid release of Methane being the most
likely culprit: Allen L Roland
Experts say methane
emissions from the Arctic have risen by almost one-third in just five years,
and that sharply rising temperatures are to blame ~
but very few people understand both the short and long range consequences
for the planet in regards to a sudden increase in Methane emissions.
As the Guardian
points out ~ "This recent
discovery follows a string of reports from the region in recent years that
previously frozen boggy soils are melting and releasing methane in greater
quantities. Such Arctic soils currently lock away billions of tons of methane,
a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, leading some
scientists to describe melting permafrost as a ticking time bomb that could
overwhelm efforts to tackle climate change." See Guardian story ~ http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jan/14/arctic-permafrost-methane
Lack of action in
international climate change talks
risks extreme weather events such as the typhoon that devastated the Philippines three weeks
ago being repeated, Paddy Ashdown has
warned.
The former Liberal
Democrat leader said that the lack of energy at the UN climate talks, which
wrapped up in Warsaw last weekend, left him "speechless." Writing
in the Guardian, Ashdown also said that climate change is contributing to extreme weather events, that
the role of human-caused emissions in global warming is having fatal
consequences and that typhoon Haiyan is a
preview of what the future holds.
Now let's move to the
United States where a late November story by Seth Borenstein (Huffington Post)
reveals that "The
United States is spewing 50 percent more methane ~ a potent heat-trapping gas ~
than the federal government estimates, a new comprehensive scientific study
says. Much of it is coming from just three states: Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas…
The study estimates that in 2008, the U.S. poured 49 million tons of methane
into the air. That means U.S. methane emissions trapped about as much heat
as all the carbon dioxide pollution coming from cars, trucks, and planes in the
country in six months. " See story http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/25/us-methane-study-emissions_n_4339308.html
Now
that I've confirmed the rapid Methane buildup both in the rapidly melting Arctic
permafrost as well as domestically ~ let's throw an historical fact into the
equation to truly define the current ticking Methane mass extinction time bomb
.
The
Permian–Triassic (P–Tr) extinction event, informally known as the Great Dying, was an
extinction event that occurred 252 million years ago, forming the boundary
between the Permian and Triassic geologic periods, as well as the Paleozoic and
Mesozoic eras. It was the Earth's most severe known extinction event, with
up to 96% of all marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species
becoming extinct. It is the only known mass extinction of insects. Some 57%
of all families and 83% of all genera became extinct. Because so much
biodiversity was lost, the recovery of life on Earth took significantly longer
than after any other extinction event, possibly up to 10 million years. This
event has been described as the "mother of all mass extinctions."
The Plant eating Dicynodon was one of few survivors of Permian Mass extinction 250 million years ago where 95% of all life died.
Now
watch this must see BBC Documentary video THE DAY
THE EARTH DIED ~ which brilliantly
describes the search by geologists
throughout the world to discover the cause of this mass extinction event
millions of years ago. At first they thought it was a giant asteroid ~ similar
to the event that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago due to the
after-effects of an asteroid impact off the Yucatan Peninsula.
Their
search for the Permian killer took several twist and turns until the late
1900's when they discovered the evidence of a buildup in Methane Hydrate with
massive quantities of carbon 12 in Permian
crust deposits. They then postulated that global warming led to a 5 degree
increase in global temperature which led to a massive release of carbon 12 from
the Methane Hydrate which led to a 10 degree increase in Global temperature which
then literally wiped out life on Earth. Must
see 48 minute BBC video
So
where are we now regarding Global warming?
I
agree with Gaius Publius who
writes
in America Blog We Could See 7 degree C (12
degree F) warming, and a mass extinction, by 2100 ~ and here's why: No one is taking into account the
consequences of a rapid Methane build up and resultant carbon 12 increase if
the Methane emissions from the Artic permafrost continue to accelerate.
See
Publius article http://americablog.com/2013/09/climate-crisis-see-7c-12f-warming-mass-extinction-2100.html
The
sad realization for an apathetic world and main stream press is that we may
already be beyond the point of no return ~
and many others agree.
We are upsetting the
atmosphere upon which all life depends. In the late 80s when I began to take
climate change seriously, we referred to global warming as a ‘slow motion
catastrophe’ one we expected to kick in perhaps generations later. Instead, the
signs of change have accelerated alarmingly. - David Suzuki
Allen
L Roland
Freelance Alternative
Press Online columnist and transformational counselor
Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and
private Skype consultations allen@allenroland.com
Allen
L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and
lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his web log and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show
TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net
