Melting Glaciers Are 'Farting' Methane Gas in Concerning Trend
Warming temperatures around the world have led to concerning trends in some of the most sensitive parts of the globe, from melting permafrost to shrinking glaciers. A new study conducted on a remote Arctic island illustrates just how concerning the climate crisis is becoming.
A team of scientists hailing from the U.K., Norway, and Canada conducted a series of expeditions to the island of Svalbard to measure methane levels during the spring as winter ice begins to melt. The study’s lead author Gabrielle Kleber took water samples at the bottom of 78 glaciers in the springs of 2021 and 2022.
Co-author Hal Bradbury, an assistant professor studying chemical oceanography at the University of British Columbia, then took the results from more than 120 samples and used numerical modeling to assess how much methane is being released across the Arctic island every year.
“We actually found methane everywhere,” Bradbury remarked of the findings. "We reckon about 2,000 tons of methane coming out a year." While past research has confirmed the release of methane from melting Arctic permafrost, the study published on July 6 is the first to measure the phenomenon of glaciers letting out massive amounts of methane as they shrink.
"This actually provides a new mechanism where it can escape rather than having to melt the entirety of the permafrost," Bradbury said. "It's a really interesting feedback cycle where the rising global temperatures are leading to the melting of the glaciers. And this is leading to more methane released, which slightly increases the rate of further temperature change."
As a result of increased melting, methane-laced water dating back to the Jurassic period that was stored in the rock has more ways to escape into the air. "It wasn't just like one spring. All but one of the springs were releasing methane," Bradbury said. "You literally see bubbles of water and gas coming out to the surface. Some people like to do that party trick—lighting it on fire."
Related: The Complete Guide to Glacier National Park
More research needs to be done in places home to both glaciers and permafrost to evaluate whether further melting of the Arctic's glaciers will slow down or speed up the release of methane. As it stands, Bradbury believes that the trend doesn't look good. "If global warming continues, and assuming that the glaciers continue to melt, this process will continue to happen and might become important in the Canadian Arctic or the Russian Arctic," he said. "And then we could have larger releases."
Nobody likes gassy farts, especially when they that have the possibility to ruin the planet.