Discovery of immense methane leaks in Antarctica. “Release of methane from these hydrates is a frightening prospect. Such a release could trigger a runaway greenhouse effect leading to rapid and catastrophic climate change.”

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/03/21/discovery-of-immense-methane-leaks-in-antarctica/

by The_Weekend_Baker

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  2. Most polar studies on methane hydrates have so far been carried out in the Arctic. To find out what the situation is with these structures in the Antarctic, a research team led by the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) and the Spanish Geological and Mining Institute (IGME-CSIC) undertook an expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula as part of the ICEFLAME project.

    The researchers returned on February 17 and have now reported the discovery of large methane leaks on the sea floor in an ICM publication. For the first time, they were able to observe that large quantities of methane are released from the seabed in a gaseous state where methane hydrates occur.

    “We already knew about the existence of solid methane hydrates beneath the continental margins of the Antarctic Peninsula, but thanks to this campaign, we have been able to confirm our hypothesis of their gaseous dissociation. Some of these gas emissions rise from previously known faults, while others emerge from ones we have identified for the first time,” explains Dr. Roger Urgeles, lead scientist of the research mission and researcher at ICM’s Seafloor and Sub-seafloor Processes Laboratory, in the institute’s article.

    # Is climate change accelerating methane emissions?

    The research team now wants to find out whether the methane emissions are a natural and stable process or whether the fragile balance of pressure and temperature that holds the methane hydrates in the seabed is being shaken by climate change and accelerating the release.

    Since the last glacial maximum around 20,000 years ago, the ice mass on the Antarctic continent has been shrinking – more recently at a much faster rate due to global warming. Due to the decreasing weight, the continent is rising and the pressure on the methane hydrates is decreasing.

    “We want to determine whether the dissociation of hydrates is a process in equilibrium with its surroundings or if it is being altered by external factorsors,” says Dr. Urgeles.

    **The significance of the discovery of methane emissions, particularly in relation to global warming, is still being investigated. Dr. Urgeles emphasizes that it is too early to determine their exact origin and the connection with man-made climate change.**

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