Methane as a Greenhouse Gas
CCSP Research Highlight 1

Online Resources

Web Sites

Methane.  Site produced by the Environmental Protection Agency. 

National Methane Hydrate R&D Program.  Site hosted by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) of the Department of Energy.  "The primary goal of the program is to provide the knowledge and technologies to fully realize the potential of methane hydrates in supporting our nation's continued economic growth, energy security, and environmental protection."  Includes Methane Hydrate Library and the The Methane Hydrate Newsletter "Fire in the Ice,"  a quarterly newsletter. 

Methane Hydrates Research. Page produced by the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute (University of Hawaii at Manoa).

Individual Postings

Listed in reverse chronological order

2006

Siberian lakes burp “time-bomb” greenhouse gas. Press release (dtd 7 Sep 2006) from Institute of Arctic Biology.

Greenhouse gas bubbling from melting permafrost feeds climate warming. Press release (dtd 6 Sep 2006) from Florida State University. "A study co-authored by a Florida State University scientist in Tallahassee, Fla., and published in the Sept. 7 issue of the journal Nature, has found that as the permafrost melts in North Siberia due to climate change, carbon sequestered and buried there since the Pleistocene era is bubbling up to the surface of Siberian thaw lakes and into the atmosphere as methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide."

Greenhouse Methane Released From Ice Age Ocean. Press release (dtd 28 Aug 2006) from the University of California, Davis.

Study rules out ancient 'bursts' of methane from seafloor deposits. Press release (dtd 24 Aug 2006) from Oregon State University. "A dramatic increase about 12,000 years ago in levels of atmospheric methane, a potent greenhouse gas, was most likely caused by higher emissions from tropical wetlands or from plant production, rather than a release from seafloor methane deposits, a new study concludes."

"Frozen” Natural Gas Discovered at Unexpectedly Shallow Depths. Press release (21 Aug 2006) from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program.

Gas escaping from ocean floor may drive global warming. Press release (dtd 19 July 2006) from U.C. Santa Barbara. "Gas escaping from the ocean floor may provide some answers to understanding historical global warming cycles -- and provide information on current climate changes according to a team of UCSB scientists. The findings are reported in the July 20 on-line version of the scientific journal, Global Biogeochemical Cycles. Remarkable and unexpected support for this idea occurred when divers and scientists observed and videotaped a massive blowout of methane from the ocean floor near Santa Barbara."  See also:

• Leifer, I., B. Luyendyk, J. Boles, and J.F. Clark, 2006. Natural marine seepage blowout: Contribution to atmsoperhic methane [PDF]. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 20 doi:10.1029/2005GB002668.
• Seep Blowouts Hold Climate Key and Threat.  Page on "Bubbleology" site maintained by Ira Leifer (The Marine Science Institute and The Institute for Crustal Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara).  Page includes video showing methane "blowout."

Methane burps disproved?.  Article (dtd 9 Feb 2006) from news@nature.com.

The Forgotten Methane Source.  Press release (dtd 11 January 2006) from Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.  See also: Global Warming - The Blame Is not with the Plants, press release (dtd 18 January 2006) issued by the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.

2005

Methane hydrates and global warming. Posting (dtd 12 Dec 2005) from RealClimate.

Scientists gain new insights into 'frozen' methane beneath ocean floor. Press release (dtd 31 Oct 2005) from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Management International.

Antarctic Expedition to Understand Rising Global Methane Levels [PDF]. Press release (dtd 18 October 2005) from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.

Methane reduction might slow warming. Transcript and audio file from Earth & Sky, daily science radio series, currently funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.The segment originally was broadcast on 10 October 2005.

Astronomical pacing of methane release in the Early Jurassic period.  Abstract of article published in 15 Sept 2005 issue of Nature. 

Humans Have Affected Greenhouse Gases for 2,000 Years, Study Says.  "Finds "human fingerprints all over atmospheric methane emissions."  Press release (13 Sep 2005) from U.S. Department of State.  See also:

• Causes of methane growth revealed.  Press release (dtd 9 September 2005) from Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO).
• Polar ice reveals pre-industrial pollution.  Press release (dtd 9 Sep 2005) from New Zealand’s National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research (NIWA).

New Wrinkle In Carbon Cycling.  Article (dtd 29 Aug 2005) from Chemical & Engineering News.

Swamp Gas Mystery Solved.  "Methane turns out to be a major food item for sphagnum moss, accounting for as much as 15% of the plant's carbon," scientists report in the 25 August of Nature. "Experiments with radioactive methane revealed that bacteria living in the moss rapidly converted the gas into carbon dioxide which was then sucked up by the moss."  Article (dtd 24 Aug 2005) from Science Now.

Major methane emitter identified in Asian rice fields.  Article (dtd 12 Aug 2005) from SciDev.Net.

Methane's Impacts on Climate Change May Be Twice Previous Estimates.  Feature (dtd 18 July 2005) from NASA.

Climate Science of Methane. Chapter 2 of Methane UK, report (dtd 2005) from Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford. 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks 1990-2003, EPA 430-R-05-003 (Washington, DC, April 2005).

Swamp Thing or Monster of the Deep? "A discussion about the end of the last ice age has repercussions for today's climate." Article (dtd 17 April 2005) from The Economist. 

Scientists Create, Study Methane Hydrates in “Ocean Floor” Lab.  "Data may help develop strategies for mining natural gas locked up in seafloor sediments."  Press release (13 March 2005) from Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Symposium on Gas Hydrates and Clathrates.  Papers presented at symposium held in conjunction with The 229th ACS National Meeting, in San Diego, CA, March 13-17, 2005.

Methane Hydrates [PDF].  Factsheet (dtd January 2005) from the Department of Energy / National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE/NETL).

2004

Methane: A Scientific Journey from Obscurity to Climate Super-Stardom. Research feature (dtd September 2004) by Gavin Schmidt (NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies).

When Methane Made Climate [PDF].  Article (dtd July 2004) from Scientific American.

Energy Saviour? Or Climate Disaster?  Article (dtd Summer 2004) from Science Notes 2004 (University of California, Santa Cruz).

Methane Trends.  Figure (updated May 2004) showing (1) global average atmospheric methane mixing ratios; and (2) global average growth rate for methane.  Postscript Version also available.

Charting the Future of Methane Hydrate Research in the United States.  Report (dtd 2004) from Committee to Review the Activities Authorized under the Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act of 2000, National Research Council.

2003

Atmospheric Levels of Methane Stabilizing, NOAA Finds [PDF].  Press release (dtd 19 Nov 2003) from the U.S. Department of State.

NOAA Reports Potent Greenhouse Gas Levels Off.  Press release (dtd 17 November 2003) from NOAA. 

2003 DOE/JIP Hydrate Conference.   On September 29 - October 1, 2003, DOE and ChevronTexaco jointly sponsored a Methane Hydrate Conference and JIP workshop  for the exchange of information on on-going methane hydrate projects, including the Gulf of Mexico Joint Industry Project.

Methane on ice: a climate shock in store?   "Vast stockpiles of frozen methane on the seafloor are more unstable than previously thought and their sudden release may have been linked to global warming in the past."  Posting (dtd 21 February 2003) at ABC Science Online (Australia)

Ocean Burps and Climate Change?  Article (dtd January 2003) from NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

2002

Report of the Methane Hydrate Advisory Committee on Methane Hydrate Issues and Opportunities (Including Assessment of Uncertainty of the Impact of Methane Hydrate on Global Climate Change).  [PDF-1.3 Mb].  Report (dtd December 2002) to the Congress.

Interagency Coordination on Methane Hydrates R&D. [PDF; 3.2 Mb], Brochure (undated, circa 2002) from the National Energy Technology Laboratory describing federally funded, collaborative methane hydrate R & D program. 

Ice that Burns. "Methane gas hydrates offer a potential energy reserve, danger to
petroleum drilling and global warming concern."  Article in GT Research Horizons (Spring/Summer 2002).

2001

IPCC, 2001: Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Houghton, J.T., Y. Ding, D.J. Griggs, M. Noguer, P.J. van der Linden, X. Dai, K. Maskell, and C.A. Johnson (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 881pp. See especially:  4.2.1.1 Methane.

Fiery Ice from the Seas [PDF]. Report from the First Workshop of the International Committee of Methane Hydrates.  7-9 March 2001, Honolulu, Hawai'i.  Submitted by the Hawai‘i Natural Energy Institute, University of Hawai‘i to the National Energy Technology Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy.

2000

Review of Canadian gas hydrate deposits and assessment of their potential influence
on future climate change [PDF].   Paper presented to " GeoCanada 2000 - The Millennium Geoscience Summit" sponsored by the Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists.

1999

Gas Blasts. "Methane once frozen under the seafloor may heat up the climate."  Article (dtd 20 December 1999) from Scientific American.com.

Cool Evidence Confirms Unnatural Rise in Methane.  Article (dtd 1999) from ECOS (published by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO).