海角大神

Giant plumes of methane gas appear to be bubbling up off the Pacific Northwest coast.

This is according to a new study which suggests warming ocean temperatures a third of a mile below the surface are causing the bubbles.

The new research by the University of Washington shows that, of 168 bubble plumes monitored within the last 10 years, a large number of plumes were seen at a depth considered 鈥渃ritical,鈥� for the stability of methane hydrate. .

"We see an unusually high number of bubble plumes at the depth where methane hydrate would decompose if seawater has warmed,' said lead author H. Paul Johnson, a University of Washington professor of oceanography.

'So it is not likely to be just emitted from the sediments; this appears to be coming from the decomposition of methane that has been frozen for thousands of years.'

In recent months the US government has put in place measures to reduce methane emissions in an effort to combat climate change.聽Methane is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas emitted in the US from human activities, so cutting emissions of the gas is an important part of fighting climate change.

In 2013, methane accounted for about 10 percent of all US greenhouse gas emissions from human activities according to EPA.聽Although there鈥檚 much less methane in the atmosphere, the gas is 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere.

In August, the Obama administration proposed measures meant to reduce methane emissions over the next 10 years as聽part of the broad effort by the government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent by 2025.

海角大神 reported at the time of the announcement,聽

Earlier this year, the White House said that it would reduce methane pollution by 40 to 45 percent by 2025 drawing praise from some聽environmental groups for the crackdown on methane.聽

But聽others saw the rule as a good start but inadequate.

鈥淪etting the first national standards for methane emissions from the oil and gas industry is an important move, but it can鈥檛 be the last," Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund, said in a statement. "This proposal addresses methane emissions from newly built and modified oil and gas operations, but not from the existing facilities that account for all of today's emissions and will still account for 90 percent of the problem by 2018."

Methane is emitted from natural sources such as wetlands, as well as human activities such as leakage from natural gas systems and the raising of livestock. Last year, scientists discovered a methane hotspot in the Southwest Four Corners region, where Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah intersect.聽At the time, 海角大神 reported:

The new University of Washington study claims warming oceans maybe a potential bigger source of methane released into the atmosphere than man-made releases.