METHANE
Why is it so important?
Two Big Reasons:
1.Methane is 60 times more
effective in warming the
Earth’s Atmosphere compared
to CO2
2. Makes up the largest fossil
fuel reservoir on Earth
WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?
2 main emitters of CH4
Archaebacteria, which produce and
emit methane
Large hoofed animals, which have
archaebacteria in their digestive
tracts and “let out” methane through
flatulence
Methane Hydrates
Methane Hydrate- methane frozen
within a cage of water molecules
Methane freezes with low temp and
high pressure
Where are all of the CH4
reservoirs?
one on Earth is located in the
Biggest
permanently frozen zone beneath
tundra as deep as 2km!
Marine sediments of continental
slopes around the world
POSITIVE FEEDBACK
Global warming causes the ocean
temperature to rise, which then
causes the release of methane,
which further causes global warming!
Methane and a lighter
Carbon?
With the sudden release of Methane
into the atmosphere, it actually
releases so much of the light carbon
12, that the values all around the
world will shift to this lighter isotope
of carbon