The Moscow Times Reports East Siberian Sea Methane Emissions "Up to Nine Times the Global Average"

Thanks to Paul Beckwith for his video update Arctic Methane Measurements over Eastern Siberian Shelf Are Now the Highest Ever Measured. The Moscow Times 10/7/19 article he cites quoted Professor Igor Semiletov, of Tomsk Polytechnic University, a colleague of Natalia Shakhova, ("Expertise: chemical oceanography") Research Associate Professor at International Arctic Research Center at The University of Alaska Fairbanks. The article notes Semiletov said "This is the most powerful gas fountain I've ever seen. [ . . .] No one has ever recorded anything like this before.”

I wrote about scientific debate regarding his concern in a previous post quoting Semiletov from an October 4, 2016, Siberian Times article: "We have reason to believe that such emissions may change the climate. This is due to the fact that the reserves of methane under the submarine permafrost exceed the methane content in the atmosphere [ . . . ] many thousands of times. If 3-4% from underwater will go into the atmosphere within 10 years, the methane concentration therein (in the atmosphere) will increase by tens to hundreds of times, and this can lead to rapid climate warming. This is due to the fact that the greenhouse effect of one molecule of methane is 20-30 times greater than one molecule of CO₂."

In my post, his concern was not shared by Carolyn Ruppel, Ph.D, a Research Geophysicist at Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, and leader of the USGS Gas Hydrates Project.

My post also quoted a Democracy Now! video of Dahr Jamial: "[Dr. Ira Leifer, Chemical Engineering Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, noted] the normal background rate for methane seeps from a seabed in [one area] is approximately 3000 methane seeps over a thousand square kilometer area. He had, using satellites to measure the methane, [ . . .] found in another thousand square kilometer area, [. . .] there were already 60 million methane seeps [ . . .]"  I added "Leifer was 'chief mission coordinating scientist for the NASA effort for airborne remote sensing of the Gulf oil spill.'"

In 2013 Nafeez Ahmed wrote a good overview in The Guardian "Seven facts you need to know about the Arctic methane timebomb" but it seems most world leaders did not do their homework. If they were students in my Critical Thinking class, most would receive F grades.

In a related matter, it was announced today a much better critical thinker, Valve Turner Ken Ward, faces a third trial for his help shutting down "all pipelines carrying Canadian tar sands oil into the US" according to authors of his legal fund site requesting donations.  They wrote "the Skagit County prosecutor announced they will try Ken Ward a third time, likely next February."

As of today, this blog has 7,090 views from Russia which are starting to make sense with their methane releases, floods, and fires.

In US fire news, James Rainey and Joseph Serna reported in the 10/11/19 Los Angeles Times, "A forecast of high winds and increased fire danger led PG&E to cut power Wednesday to about 730,000 customers across 34 counties, stretching from Humboldt County in the north to Kern County in the south." Today cbsnews.com reported on the ten active Southern California fires. Their video shows brave firefighters working against high winds reminding me of fast-wind fires in 2017 and 2018. Update: Doug Stanglin, Chris Woodyard and Grace Hauck of USA TODAY reported "Two dead near Los Angeles as Saddleridge fire forces 100,000 people to evacuate." The article noted "'This is a very dynamic fire,' Los Angeles Fire chief Ralph Terrazas told reporters Friday, warning that the fire — dubbed the Saddleridge fire — was devouring 800 acres an hour [. . . .] Terrazas said the fire, as of Friday morning, was 'zero' contained."

The Guardian reported "[ Update: 'millions across Japan'] were advised to evacuate due to fears of flooding as a powerful typhoon [Hagibis] was set to make landfall late on Saturday, bringing with it the heaviest rain and winds in 60 years."

Many sources noted September 2019 was Earth's "hottest" since humans kept records, as was July 2019, as was June 2019. BBC Newsnight ran a revealing 7 and half minute interview with Extinction Rebellion organizer Sarah Lunnon and one IPCC author, the Oxford University Professor Myles Allen. When host Emma Barnett asked Professor Allen "Have you found some of the scientific claims made by those associated with Extinction Rebellion unhelpful?" his answer was "It was quite gratifying as I wandered through the demonstration yesterday to actually find copies of the IPCC 1.5 Degrees Report [. . .] I think Extinction Rebellion [leaders] actually have done a very good job of trying to stick as close as they can to the science [. . . .]" That may explain why former UK police officers in the video two posts down joined them.

Matthew Green of Reuters wrote "More than 300 scientists have endorsed [the] civil disobedience campaign aimed at forcing governments to take rapid action to tackle climate change, warning that failure could inflict 'incalculable human suffering.' [par break] In a joint declaration, climate scientists, physicists, biologists, engineers and others from at least 20 countries broke with the caution traditionally associated with academia to side with peaceful protesters courting arrest from Amsterdam to Melbourne."

The climate crisis relationship between the Arctic, Canadian tar sands, California fires, Japanese typhoon Hagibis, and faster-than-predicted sea rise reminds me of a quote by John Muir: "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe."