Saturday, November 17, 2018

The problem of Melting Permafrost and the liberation of Methane in the Arctic and Antarctic Regions

I'm not a scientist and anything in that direction would be that I have a logical mind and can think for myself with critical thinking.

So, here is my concept of why Melting permafrost is a problem:

Basically, as it gets warmer at the south and North Pole, ice melts. And if that ice is around landed areas like in Alaska, Canada or Antarctica often animals or Fish or birds etc. have died there for millions of years. When they die in the arctic they decompose more slowly and turn into coal and oil more slowly as their bodies decompose over millions of years. So, basically, when you drive a car or truck with gas or diesel you are driving on fuel that comes from millions of years of dead animals, birds, fish and decomposed trees and plants. In other words everything that was once alive turns into coal and oil eventually under the right circumstances over millions of years. One of the bi-products of this decomposition is Methane. Methane is a problem because like ozone and carbon dioxide it harms the upper atmosphere of earth. And the upper atmospheres of earth protect us from skin cancer and other harmful rays like Cosmic Rays.

So, as global warming increases (which is much much faster at the poles than where we live in the U.S. or near the equator, the methane comes up and rises up into the upper atmosphere and does damage. And if you are smoking a cigarette while it is coming up through the ice or near you, you could set it off and blow up yourself by the lighted cigarette or by lighting a fire in the wrong place in the arctic or antarctic wherever the methane vents into the atmosphere, especially as the permafrost melts and liberates more methane by the day.

Another thing that creates a lot of methane is pig or cow excrement. Methane if captured also is a good fuel source like Gasoline or natural gas or diesel by the way if ways could be found to capture it in an economical way so a profit could be made from the harvesting of the methane. Or if you could find a way to make it useful to your farm or property in some way that would be useful to you or your family or friends.

Burning the methane as a fuel source changes it's effect on the upper atmosphere.

Ultimately though, the best energy sources are going to be solar and wind and maybe geothermal to prevent more burning and carbon dioxide and more carbon monoxide from forming all over the earth and going into the atmosphere worldwide.

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