[ClearCase_guy]

So, Global Warming causes Global Warming? I read this to say that warmer oceans caused by Global Warming will release the methane which then becomes the source of Global Warming. Seems somewhat circular. I need a grant to sort this out.

[alloysteel]

I am not saying this is the answer to much of anything. But there is occasionaly a "burp" of gas release, when a warm stream of water hits one of these veins of methane hydrate, which is found at a depth of 1,000 feet or more. Ocean temperature at that depth is normally 4°C, or about 38°F. Water is at its most dense at that temperature, and methane hydrate is a stable amorphous solid. A flow of water that warms the temperature by only a few degrees results in the methane hydrate destablizing, and turning into a gas, escaping to the surface. This huge "burp" results in a gas-water mixture of temporarily much lower density than water alone, which may explain mysterious disappearances of ships and boats in places like the Bermuda Triangle. The warmer Gulf Stream warms up the water at greater depths, and the methane hydrate breaks down. The buoyancy of the sea is momentarily reduced, and the vessel sinks, like a rock.

[boris]

"So, Global Warming causes Global Warming? I read this to say that warmer oceans caused by Global Warming will release the methane which then becomes the source of Global Warming. Seems somewhat circular. I need a grant to sort this out."

I'll help. The conclusion they want you to draw is that we might set off a mighty fart of methane from the sea-bottom if we keep 'warming'. Fortunately we are not causing any warming, but let that be.

Here's the crux: the heat capacity of the oceans is gigantic. To cause a 5-degree increase in the temperature of the oceans is beyond human ability--and will be for probably the next 100,000 years.

Breath easy, friend.

--Boris

[Eva]

That was my understanding as well. It seems as though the title was created to match the agenda of global warming, blaming global warming on global warming, when what they really meant was that natural underwater events, caused by pent up pressure from the gas, is causing huge releases of methane, which causes the increase in temperature, which in turns causes more release of gas.

This study does not even take into account the fact that the oil companies have been releasing gas into the air since the inception of drilling for oil in Alaska, for lack of anything better to do with the gas. Actually I think that they may be injecting it back into the oil, now, but I am not sure. The environmentalists would do us all a big favor if they would approve the natural gas pipeline from Alaska.

[farmfriend]

I read this to say that warmer oceans caused by Global Warming will release the methane which then becomes the source of Global Warming. Seems somewhat circular. I need a grant to sort this out.

LOL! Let me save the tax payers money. Planetary warming caused by increased sun activity causes release of methane gas which accounts for the warming first carbon later results seen in ice cores. Note, no run away greenhouse effect has been documented. Nor was man involved.

The article did fall short of the usual crap we see. I'm surprised they didn't say that increased warming do to man's release of greenhouse gasses could cause this catastrophic event. Hence the need for Kyoto. It's all Bush's fault don't you know.