Methane has 30 times the warming effect of carbon dioxide but lacks the press awareness of its greenhouse gas cousin. 

And a new study in
Nature Geoscience has found that the seafloor off the coast of Northern Siberia is releasing more than twice the amount of methane as previously estimated - the East Siberian Arctic Shelf is venting at least 17  million tons
(teragrams) of methane into the atmosphere each year. 



Methane burns as it escapes through a hole in the ice in a lagoon above the East Siberian Arctic Shelf. Photo courtesy of Natalia Shakhova


"Results of this study represent a big step forward toward improving our understanding of methane emissions from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf," said Shakhova. She noted that while the ESAS is unusual in its expansive and shallow nature, the team's findings there speak to the need for further exploration of the subsea Arctic. "I believe that all other arctic shelf areas are significantly underestimated and should be paid very careful attention to."




"We believe that the release of methane from the Arctic, and in particular this part of the Arctic, could impact the entire globe," Shakhova said. "We are trying to understand the actual contribution of the ESAS to the global methane budget and how that will change over time."