NASA monitors two million methane hot spots active in the Arctic

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NASA recently announced that it has detected two million methane hot spots in the Arctic, as greenhouse gas emissions seep through the ice cracks.

The research findings were published in the geophysical research letters in February.

An active methane foci
Scientists know the active methane foci are those that show more than three parts per million of methane in the space between the airborne sensor and the Earth.

The NASA team finally discovered two million hot spots within the area covered by the unique infrared spectrometer (known as AVIRIS-NG), which enabled them to draw a completely new perspective of the polar region, especially in remote areas such as Alaska and northwest Canada.

The researchers were able to collect more than 400 statistical documents from the flights that took place in July and August 2017, and covered about thirty thousand square kilometers of Arctic land.

In all, these expeditions documented nearly a billion accurate views of methane emissions. The team has not yet been able to accurately determine the total number of methane emission foci, given the large area covered by the Arctic.

The thermal karst lakes
Previous research had indicated that some Arctic lakes, known as thermal karst lakes - formed by the melting of water in surface depressions - could not only flow with methane emitting, but could also cause the permafrost surrounding to melt faster.

Surveys by the NASA team showed that active methane foci cluster along the banks of water bodies such as lakes, ponds, and streams. Usually, this is in the range of thirty to forty meters. Then it begins to fade, to completely disappear about three hundred meters away from these wet complexes.

The researchers explain this phenomenon that these thermal lakes facilitate the spread of methane from the plant, and with the continued freezing of the frozen carbon layer beneath the polar region around these lakes, the freed carbon feeds the microbes that make methane to release more of it and form active methane foci.

The topography of the region may also play a role, as it affects the formation of the rich aquatic complexes of the Arctic.

Thus, the study states that instead of one centimeter of melting ice - which is common in terrestrial environments - researchers have observed 15 meters of melting ice under newly formed lakes in the Gold Stream valley during the past 60 years.

The researchers warn that if the tundra - the barren icy plains of the Arctic - melts, it will release methane and other carbon emissions into the atmosphere, which will increase global warming.

Whatever the reason, it is clear that we need more research, and it appears that water bodies will be the starting point.

It should be noted that methane has a significant role in global warming that exceeds carbon dioxide by about thirty times, and even if the Paris Agreement is committed, it is expected that the Arctic ice will shrink by 45%, which will lead to the release of billions of metric tons of carbon and methane in the atmosphere. Air.