18
votes
Why do the Siberian methane craters have smooth vertical walls?
Permafrost is defined as
a ground, or medium, (including rocks, soils and organic matter) with a mean annual temperature less than 0 °C for at least 2 consecutive years.
The smooth appearance of ...
- 2,623
12
votes
Are fossil fuels really formed from fossils?
Let's look at this. A very large number of points for one question.
First, the solar system. We do not see any hydrocarbons in the inner solar system (Mercury to Mars). This is because in this region ...
- 1,052
6
votes
Accepted
If methane decays to $\small\sf{CO_2}$ in the atmosphere, shouldn't there be much more $\small\sf{CO_2}$?
So what am I missing in this analysis?
The linked data says 2017 CH4 was about 1850 ppb, not 1850 ppm. Dividing parts per billion (ppb) by 1000 results in parts per million (ppm). In other words, ...
- 20.4k
5
votes
Methane remote sensing?
I found a great paper named Remote Sensing of Particulate Pollution from Space: Have We Reached the Promised Land? and collected some remote sensing instruments doing CH4 measurement in the chart ...
- 2,439
5
votes
Accepted
What is meant by Global-warming Potential (GWP)?
Rather than using the GWP as a ratio, they are expressing the GWP as compared to a release of $\ce{CO2}$ with equivalent radiative effects. To use their numbers use the mass they give you and a GWP ...
- 13.9k
4
votes
Why do the Siberian methane craters have smooth vertical walls?
A friend of mine works at the Permafrost institute in Moscow and he and his colleagues generally support this idea. I think that edges were formed by falling pieces of soil and vertical walls were ...
- 49
4
votes
The origin of permafrost
What caused a centuries long freeze, the beginning of the current ice age. Yes we are in an ice age, as long as greenland and antarctica have large ice sheets we are technically in an ice age) Which ...
- 6,558
3
votes
Cluster of cow burps now mapped; which satellites contribute to GHGSat's high-resolution maps of ppb levels of methane emission? How do they do it?
A quick online search shows the GHGSat web page discussing the satellites and their capabilities (emphasis mine):
GHGSat's vision is to become the global reference for the remote
sensing of ...
- 1,027
3
votes
Are fossil fuels really formed from fossils?
The definition of a fossil is "evidence of past life preserved by geologic processes".
By this definition a coal bed is itself a fossil since it is the preserved organic matter from an ancient ...
- 792
3
votes
Accepted
Possible and probable source of Curiosity Rover's $\small\sf{CH_4}$ detection on Mars
The possible source of methane is biological, and that is what everyone is hoping for, but the more likely source is geological, produced by chemical reactions between rock and water deep underground ...
- 4,459
3
votes
Accepted
How much methane clathrates are buried in continental deposits?
According to Role of methane clathrates in past and future climates,
Methane occurrences and the organic carbon content of sediments are
the bases used to estimate the amount of carbon currently ...
- 5,912
2
votes
What are the natural causes for methane formation?
The 'natural causes' of global methane emissions are, as you indicate, mostly of biological origin. To some extent it depends upon what you regard as 'natural'. There are many and differing estimates ...
- 14.1k
2
votes
Accepted
What would be the extent of the feedback on climate of unattended deaths event?
Mass of Earth's atmosphere: $5 \times 10^{18} kg$
Concentration of methane in Earth's atmosphere: $1866 ppb$
Mass of methane in Earth's atmosphere, present day: $9.3 \times 10^{12} kg$ = 9,300,000,...
- 748
2
votes
Accepted
Is there evidence to suggest that the release of methane clathrates in permafrost regions will impact climate change?
Your first two links don't seem to mention clathrates.
Much ado about methane says:
What methane are we talking about?
The largest methane pools that people are talking about are in sediments ...
- 2,309
2
votes
Accepted
Why are $\small\sf{CH_4}$ and $\small\sf{CO_2}$ levels coupled during the Pleistocene?
This question is addressed in a Nature paper on "Understanding the glacial methane cycle" (Hopcroft et al. 2017).
There conclusion is that changes in methane concentrations are driven by changes in ...
- 772
2
votes
"Twelve people have stood on the moon, but only one person has been to the Gates of Hell." What Guinness World Record did George Kourounis receive?
According to the Guinness Book of World Records site, George Kourounis holds the record as the first person to reach the bottom:
The first person to reach the bottom of Darvaza gas crater is George ...
- 305
2
votes
Methane from fracking?
According to Howarth, et al. 2011, from 4 wells they sampled, flow back after hydraulic fracturing lead to a release of methane equal to 0.6-3.2% of lifetime production of the well. Fracking wells ...
- 3,314
2
votes
What part does methane play in the process of producing biogas?
When you say produced, do you mean chemically made from another substance, or you do mean released into the atmosphere, or do you mean captured and stored?
Methane, or CH4, is a biogas as it is gas ...
- 189
1
vote
What part does methane play in the process of producing biogas?
As Jean-Marie Prival commented, methane is the biogas (after removing impurites such as $H_2S$ and $CO_2$).
Biogas is renewable because "From a carbon perspective, as much carbon dioxide is ...
- 2,309
1
vote
Accepted
What potential geoengineering technologies could help a country "achieve its Paris (agreement) targets"?
I think the third paragraph of the article hints at what might be the thinking.
In the next five years, the total area covered by artificial rain or snowfall will reach 5.5 million sq km, while over ...
- 21.8k
1
vote
Why are $\small\sf{CH_4}$ and $\small\sf{CO_2}$ levels coupled during the Pleistocene?
Just a guess, not a specialist on the topic. Pleistocene was characterised by multiple glaciations and interglacial periods. The increase in CO2 concentration and the increase in temperature normally ...
- 679
1
vote
Methane leaks from biogas
how large would the leaks have to be to counteract the positive effects?
Trying a ballpark estimate ... biogas replaces natural gas. For simplicity let's assume the replacement is 1:1, one mole of ...
- 1,194
1
vote
What are the natural causes for methane formation?
Yes
It is one of most common compounds in the universe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane#Extraterrestrial_methane
Which period of the early earth do you want to know about? the earliest ...
- 6,558
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