“If it’s sustained, it’s bad news,” said MIT atmospheric scientist Ron Prinn, lead author of the methane study, which will be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters Oct. 31. “This is a heads up. We’re seeing smoke. It remains to be seen whether this is the fire we’re really worried about.”
“Prinn’s data are consistent with the early results of “whole fields of methane bubbles” that Gustafsson said he found last month. The highest methane level increases were seen in monitoring stations in Alert, Canada, which with recent anecdotal evidence points to plants in permafrost thawing and decaying.”
Many of us have had the discussion of whether we should be making public statements about these rather dire observations and warnings by many scientists. The argument goes: if we scare people they won’t do anything because the problem is too big for an individual. I think it’s our duty to report what scientists are finding. Let the chips fall where they might. An informed citizenry is more likely to react quicker to impending disaster than an ignorant one.
Let no one be under any illusion. Climate change cannot be solved by government or new technology. Our fate is in our own collective hands. Each and everyone of us needs to act. Start simply and then make bigger and bigger cuts in your own carbon footprint. This story is yet another warning in a long series that have been coming in the past few months. It’s not too late to pull the planet back from the brink.
Put on a jumper, wear a woolen hat, turn your thermostat all the way down. Save your carbon fuels for days when the temperature outside hits 5C or less. It will cut your home heating CO2 emissions by over 50%. That will make a difference!
PS: Wear your hat and jumper at work, too!
