Arctic methane emissions may speed up climate change

Arctic wetlands may be part of an accelerating cycle of climate change, according to new research.

An article in the international journal Science finds that wetlands in the Arctic increased methane emissions by 30 per cent from 2003 to 2007.

Methane is the second most potent greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. Methane is produced mostly by bacteria in soil and rivers, and in animal intestines.

For years, scientists have worried that melting Arctic permafrost would release methane as it warms.

By looking at images from special satellite sensors, scientists were able to measure methane release in the Arctic.

They say the results are worrying.

“(The data) supports the idea that changes in wetland emissions have significantly contributed to recent changes is atmospheric (methane) concentrations. There is substantial potential for wetland emissions to feed back positively to changes in the climate,” the study’s conclusions state.

In other words, global warming causes more methane emission, which causes more global warming.

The Arctic ecosystem therefore both contributes to global warming and is affected by it far more than most regions, the report finds.

The Arctic’s cold ecosystem means it doesn’t release a lot of methane, but what it does release is increasing a lot.

“The fact is, the global concentration in methane has been changing quite a lot in the last couple of years,” said Dr. Paul Palmer, a physicist with the University of Edinburgh and one of the study’s authors.

“There is expected surface warming (in the Arctic) projected by pretty much all the climate models,” Palmer said. “Even with a few degrees warming this could seriously affect the global climate.”

So are the northern mid-latitudes between 45 and 67 degrees north — the boreal forest. The boreal forest produces roughly half of the methane in the atmosphere and is also increasing its emissions as it warms up.

“The climate models are predicting surface warming at high latitudes,” he explained. “This has the potential to produce leads and loads of methane.”

Methane comprises less than 0.02 per cent of the atmosphere, compared to 4 per cent carbon dioxide. But methane is twenty-five times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide at the same concentration.