Scientists predict that methane from the damaged Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Europe will likely cause the biggest known gas leak to occur within a brief period of time and highlight the issue of significant methane escapes elsewhere in the world.
According to what she has observed, Marcia McNutt, president of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, ‘this is an unparalleled loss of fossil methane to the atmosphere in a very short time from a concentrated source.’
She coordinated efforts made by the American government to determine the extent of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
Methane acts quickly to heat the Earth. The fact that it disappears faster from the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, ‘is probably small consolation to the citizens of Florida and other places who are already being hit by more frequent and more deadly tropical storms, supercharged by an ocean superheated by greenhouse gas releases to the atmosphere,’ McNutt said in an email.
Researchers predict that large plumes of this potent greenhouse gas will have considerable negative effects on the climate, while the exact extent of the harm is still unknown.
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