Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
08/30/2012
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
An international group of scientists have calculated that there is an accumulation of gas in the ice continent that, if released, could worsen the climate change process
A large volume of methane, a greenhouse gas, may have been produced under the Antarctic ice sheet over millions of years and may add to global warming if released into the atmosphere by a thaw, a study on Wednesday (29).
Scientists from the universities of Bristol, Utrecht, California and Alberta simulated the accumulation of methane in sedimentary basins of Antarctica using models and calculations. They found that it is likely that micro-organisms may have been able to convert the large deposits of organic carbon of the ice sheet in the gas.
If present, probably methane is trapped under the ice.
But it can be released into the atmosphere as global temperatures increased melt the ice, further fueling global warming, scientists said in an article published in the journal Nature.
"The Mantle of Ice Antarctic may be a previously neglected component of the inventory of methane hydrate overall, although there is significant uncertainty," they said.
Methane remains in the atmosphere for up to 15 years. Levels have increased in recent years, following a period of stability since 1998.
The gas is normally retained as "methane hydrate" in sediment under a seabed. Methane hydrate is a form of ice containing a large amount of methane, which is generally stable.
When temperatures rise, the hydrate breaks and methane is released from the seabed, dissolving mostly in seawater. But if the methane break at the sea surface and escape to the atmosphere, it can intensify global warming.
Scientists have identified thousands of sites in the Arctic where methane is being released into the atmosphere, but the potential for the formation of methane under the Antarctic Ice Cloak has been much less studied.
Source: Ig News
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This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.