A recent study conducted by an international team of scientists from Newcastle University has unveiled a concerning climate threat: the vulnerability of oceanic methane hydrates, also known as frozen methane, to melting due to climate change.

As frozen methane and ice melt, methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is released into the atmosphere. Scientists found that the released methane traveled from the deepest part of the continental slope to the edge of the underwater shelf, covering distances of up to 40 kilometers. This suggests that, due to climate warming, significant amounts of methane may be entering the atmosphere.

Methane hydrate, known as "fire ice," is an ice-like structure found on the ocean floor containing methane. Scientists used advanced 3D seismic imaging techniques to examine a portion of hydrate that dissociated during climate warming off the coast of Mauritania in northwest Africa. They identified a specific case where dissociated methane migrated over 40 kilometers and was released through underwater depressions called karsts.

Professor Richard Davies from Newcastle University, the lead author of the study, referred to this discovery as a "pandemic-related lockdown." He explained that traces of released methane occurred because methane released from hydrates in the deepest parts of the continental slope reached the ocean, challenging previous assumptions that these hydrates are not susceptible to climate warming.

Previous studies focused on how changes in the temperature of bottom waters affect methane release from hydrates in the shallowest part of the hydrate stability zone. However, Newcastle University's new study is one of the few that investigates methane release from the base of the hydrate stability zone, located deeper underwater. The results show that methane released from this zone can travel significant distances towards the land.

Prof. Dr. Christian Berndt from GEOMAR in Kiel emphasized the importance of this discovery, noting that previous studies focused on the shallowest parts of the hydrate stability zone. The new evidence clearly indicates that much larger amounts of methane can be released from marine hydrates, underscoring the need for a better understanding of the role of hydrates in the climate system.

The potential release of vast amounts of methane into the atmosphere poses a serious threat to the delicate balance of our planet. This study highlights the futility of fighting for every fraction of a degree Celsius less, which has become a climate change fetish. There are other processes influencing the climate, much more dominant than those triggered by anthropogenic greenhouse gases.