Methane: Production and Effects

1
Methane Production and Effects

• Methane is a greenhouse gas produced by many
  different processes including the breakdown of
  organic material in anoxic environments,
  livestock, and organic activity from flooded rice
  fields (to name a few)
• It is a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2
• The warming of the arctic is introducing more
  methane into the atmosphere
• Arctic warming is reducing the extent of
  permafrost in the arctic and changing continuous
  to discontinuous
• Melting permafrost and an increasing depth of
  the active layer produces waterlogged soils and
  exposes the built up organic material to
  anaerobic processes which release methane

2
Feedback Loop

• Methane in the atmosphere traps solar radiation
  in the atmosphere
• By reflecting the wavelengths emitted by the
  earth back down to the surface it adds additional
  energy to the surface, increasing the temperature
• This increase in temperature drives the melting
  of permafrost, and other changes in the biotic
  and abiotic arctic environment
• The warming temperatures and melting permafrost
  provide an anoxic environment for methane
  production
• Methane is then released and moves up into the
  atmosphere compounding the problem further by
  trapping more solar radiation at the surface and
  increasing warming