Are methane seeps in the Arctic slowing global warming? When combined with other data—sudden drops in water temperature, along with increases in dissolved oxygen and pH at the surface—the lower CO2 levels were telltale signs of bottom water upwelling and photosynthesis, Pohlman says. Pohlman and his team conclude that the same physical forces that are pushing the methane bubbles up are also pumping nutrient-rich cold waters from the sea bed to the surface, fertilizing phytoplankton blooms that soak up CO2, they write today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/05/methane-slowing-global-warming-arctic
Thanks, timojin . . . . .WTF!!?? . . . . . . Does this mean that climate change may actually be a cyclical NATURAL phenomenon - and that nature's 'natural ', homeostatic mechanisms may be operating to re-establish climatic equilibrium!!! . . . . . OMG!! . . . . . Perhaps the sky is NOT falling, after all . . . . . Better call Al Gore, Bill Nye, and the '97% scientific consensus'!! . . . . . (Note the ironic humor?)
No. There are positive feedbacks and negative feedbacks that can exacerbate or ameliorate AGW. It has often been thought that clathrate methane releases are a strong positive feedback. This research indicates that although the released methane is still a positive feedback, the oceanic turnover caused by those releases may be a negative feedback. There are some mechanisms that counter AGW, and some mechanisms that make it worse. You can if you like.
Nope. Means the opposite. The methane from that source never has been included reliably (estimates all over the place), the extra CO2 absorption has been folded into the CO2 readings all along - the measurements used to calibrate. This may have something to do with the larger seasonal swing in Northern Hemisphere CO2 levels, measured - clearly not much photosynthesis is happening in winter, so the boost would affect relative summer levels, helping to explain this: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130812170338.htm
Some more news from thee arctic, updating the ice cover follow: http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/files/1999/07/asina_N_iqr_timeseries.png One pattern to notice: the melting curve seems to be getting steeper, the ice cover dropping more rapidly late in the summer. One handy possible: the ice is thinner these days, so the coverage area has much less ice on it - so the coverage area drops more rapidly at a given rate of melt.
