Posted on 12/31/2014 2:47:37 PM PST by smokingfrog
Scientists are beginning to question the ramifications of a giant Delaware-sized methane hot spot high up in the air. The “giant plume” is the largest collection of greenhouse gas in the air above the U.S. and is likely the result of natural gas leaks.
It’s located over a stretch of desert in Southeast New Mexico, and NASA scientists have studied the methane cloud as a potent climate changer for the past three years.
When it first appeared, scientists questioned its existence.
“We couldn’t be sure that the signal was real,” NASA researcher Christian Frankenberg told the Washington Post.
But NASA teams and University of Michigan scientists verified the methane “hot spot” in October. The study’s lead author Eric Kort says it’s unlikely that the methane emissions were caused by fracking alone, as the period in which scientists have studied the cloud predates “the widespread use of hydraulic fracturing.” Kort says the methane emissions are likely due instead to leaks in natural gas extraction and processing equipment in New Mexico's San Juan Basin.
"The results are indicative that emissions from established fossil fuel harvesting techniques are greater than inventoried," Kort said. "There's been so much attention on high-volume hydraulic fracturing, but we need to consider the industry as a whole."
Although not detectable by the naked eye, the cloud is visible from outer space. NASA scientists estimate the plume has reached over 2,500 square miles in the past decade.
It’s only the latest episode of documented massive gas leaks, and infrared cameras are currently being used to detect the natural gas surfacing from wells and compressors across the country.
Methane is considered to be twenty times more harmful a greenhouse gas than carbon-dioxide.
(Excerpt) Read more at us.sputniknews.com ...
Is there no jet stream above the Western states?
I’m old... I couldn’t help it..... Freakin’ Taco bell...
OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG...........We're so screwed!
Did Rosie O’Donut come untethered or something?
We have paid billions for this useless bit of information. The only way to justify the billions spent is to spend billions more “fixing” what ain’t broke.
or, enviro sabotage in the form of methane releases from boon docks San juan basin wells
I was just thinking earth is trying to grow a red spot like Jupiter, and you found it.
Ha, Ha. Good one!
Happy New Year!
Everyone relocate to the nearest field, where you can freeze & starve to death without impacting any nearby bat populations in caves.
Imagine how much would be escaping if we were not drawing it off?
Like Long Beach, CA, the beaches there are far, far cleaner today than they were 200 years ago because we are taking the oil before it reaches the surface.
This green crap has become a religion, an article of faith.
Interesting.
It’s almost directly over Dulce, New Mexico. Location of the infamous Dulce Underground Alien Base where aliens thrive on Methane.
Or, how about:
“YES! I DID IT!!! And you know why??? You know how bad that smells? If I had kept it in, can you imagine what that would have done to my insides?!?!?!”
You have to say this with the right kind of grimace on your face...
CA....
The guilty dog barks first.
That explains john mccain or proves without a doubt that he is worlds biggest a hole, pushing it out in record amounts.
It’s from that pot of lima beans I cooked up with the hambone from Christmas.
You used the phrase “begging the question” correctly!
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