Things That Scare Me, Part 5 (Global Warming Edition)

Lakes in Alaska and Siberia have been boiling with methane gas recently. One likely cause is the thawing of permafrost, causing methane gas to be released into the water. According to scientist Katey Walter from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, “Should large quantities of methane be released from methane hydrates, for instance, in association with permafrost thaw, then we could have large sudden increases in atmospheric methane with potentially large affects on global temperatures.” Oxon at DailyKos has an overview of this topic.