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A team of researchers with Oregon State University has confirmed the first active leak of sea-bed methane in Antarctica. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group describes their trip to Cinder Cones located at McMurdo Sound situated in the Ross Sea, and why they believe it signals very serious repercussions for global warming.
[...] The researchers note that the methane leak at the Cinder Cones is not in a part of the ocean that has been warming; thus, the reason for the leak is a mystery. Much more concerning is the reaction of undersea microbes. Prior research has shown that when other parts of the seafloor begin releasing methane, microbes move in and eat it, preventing it from making its way to the surface and into the atmosphere. Cinder Cones has been leaking for at least five years, they note, but as yet, methane-eating microbes have not moved in. Thus, the methane is almost certainly making its way into the atmosphere. The reason this is so concerning, they point out, is because it suggests that if other parts of the seafloor in Antarctica begin to seep methane due to warming, microbes may not move into the area quickly enough to prevent massive amounts of the gas from making its way into the atmosphere. They plan to continue monitoring seepage at Cinder Cones, noting that it could take as long as five more years for microbes to move in. But that research will have to wait, as the pandemic has put their plans on hold.
Are krill or penguins to blame?
Journal Reference:
Andrew R. Thurber, Sarah Seabrook, Rory M. Welsh. Riddles in the cold: Antarctic endemism and microbial succession impact methane cycling in the Southern Ocean, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1134)
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday July 23 2020, @05:10PM (2 children)
and I have touched the sky.
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(Score: 5, Interesting) by Kitsune008 on Thursday July 23 2020, @06:01PM (1 child)
Same here. 1972 IIRC...first time I did 4-way windowpane. I did not know that each one was four doses, not one. Being 'experienced'(as Jimi Hendrix asked), I bought four of them for a camping trip I was going on.(alone)
I took all four of them(16 hits) when I arrived at my remote campsite, and set up camp waiting for it to kick in. Then, it did. The stars were awesome, then everything was awesome, then...
I don't recall much of the next three days, but touch the sky I did, then very quickly touched the ground.(I had climbed a tree to reach for a star)
The evening of the third day, I finally had reattached to reality enough to realize that several things had become 'wrong with this picture':
1) I was stark naked
2) I was out precariously on a tree branch about 10-12 meters altitude above hard ground
3) there was an extremely pissed off Great Horned Owl focused on me...it was about 2 m further out on the same branch
4) If I kept to my current actions, I would be attacked by a really, really big pissed-off owl
5) I was about to touch the ground again...hard
6) hasty retreat was the best course of action
Conclusion: apparently you don't learn from mistakes when your tripping your balls off.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday July 23 2020, @08:56PM
That sounds more interesting than the adventure of Kirk, Spock and McCoy that I was thinking of.
(Although I believe the actual episode title is: "For the world is hollow and I have touched the sky.")
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