Melting in the Arctic has caused the release of millions of tons of methane -- a gas 20 times more damaging than carbon dioxide.
The first evidence that millions of tons of a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere from beneath the Arctic seabed has been discovered by scientists.
The Independent has been passed details of preliminary findings suggesting that massive deposits of sub-sea methane are bubbling to the surface as the Arctic region becomes warmer and its ice retreats.
Underground stores of methane are important because scientists believe their sudden release has in the past been responsible for rapid increases in global temperatures, dramatic changes to the climate, and even the mass extinction of species. Scientists aboard a research ship that has sailed the entire length of Russia's northern coast have discovered intense concentrations of methane - sometimes at up to 100 times background levels - over several areas covering thousands of square miles of the Siberian continental shelf.
Meanwhile, the oceans are growing warmer. Global ocean temperatures have risen by about 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit (0.1 degrees Celsius) in the last 30 years. And hurricanes are fueled by the warm, moist air over the tropical Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. The warmer the ocean surface, the more energy is available to fuel a storm's ferocious winds.
Scientists have predicted that as global warming continues to heat up the ocean, hurricanes could become more frequent, more intense or both, and several scientists think that change is already evident.
As sea surface temperatures rise, they provide more fuel to the convection that drives the swirling storms. This added energy could notch up the speed of hurricanes' winds (though several scientists say the winds can only increase so much)
Colder than usual January temperatures in the United States have brought the climate change deniers out of hibernation, flooding websites, and opinion and letters pages about the "great global warming hoax". They even organized their own conference on denial in New York City this week.
If overall global warming exceeds 5.5°F (3°C), many parts of the world are likely to see substantially increased risks of drought, floods, and wildfires, climate scientists say.
In addition, there will probably be large-scale changes in vegetation types, a U.K.-based research team reports in tomorrow's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
