The Arctic Ocean emits greenhouse gases

Research by world scientists published April 23 in the journal Nature Geoscience warns that the Arctic Ocean could be a huge source of methane, a source of greenhouse gases.

>>>Sea level will rise by 20m if the Earth's ice melts

This gas could be released into the atmosphere when melting sea ice covered by global warming.

Scientists conducted five flights between 2009 and 2010 to measure atmospheric methane levels in the region of 80 degrees north latitude.

The ocean is also a source of methane emissions

They found that there was a very large concentration of this gas near the ocean surface, especially in areas of ice that had cracked or broken. This raises the question, is this a new threat worrying to boost global temperatures.

So far, cracked soil has caused methane emissions to accumulate for millions of years, plus global warming, which in turn releases more methane into the air. But this is the first time scientists have shown that the ocean is also a source of methane, not from soil.

The level of methane in the atmosphere is relatively low, but this gas impacts the environment 20 to 40 times greater than carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) at the solar thermal trap level.

Experts say that the rapid increase in methane levels is due to the industrialization process after World War II, and that they are constantly working to understand the movement of this gas curve.

Mr. Eric Kort of Caltech Technology Institute of California, head of the study, said that measuring methane in some areas of the ocean could be compared to the air emissions on the Siberian East Coast, where there are layers of permafrost that melt.

It is noteworthy that about 10 million km ^₂ of the Arctic Ocean ice area could melt in the summer and the emission rate could become a sufficiently large source of global impact.

Currently, more than 8 million tons of methane are released into the atmosphere each year from the Arctic continental shelf in East Siberia. The melting process in the Arctic begins in the 1980s of the 20th century.

So far, more than 130 km of permafrost in the Arctic are part of Canada's territory.