By Jim Bobreski
But yes, global warming, dare I say again, is real (click here) and regardless of what we believe the cause is, we must adjust for the resulting changes, which will result in higher water levels and the ebbing of the permafrost yielding more highly concentrated greenhouse gases in the form of methane. Under the permafrost is a large quantity of natural gas and not all of it has practical economic value. If this volume of methane is freely released into the atmosphere all at nearly the same time ... well, please, read on.
Let’s go over some basics. Siberia is a region of the Russian Federation situated east of the Ural Mountains. Its borders have changed with the advent of the new Russian Federation. It spans several time zones and is larger than Canada. It has the richest deposits in rare earth minerals, aluminum, oil and natural gas in the world....
...Siberia also has the dubious honor of having the largest continuous region of permafrost.
Understanding the climate history of Siberia is critical to understanding its unique hibernation network, which is currently awakening. The geological history of Siberia is still an enigma. There are regions where numerous adult woolly mammoths were completely frozen for 20,000 years with food still in their stomachs. The woolly Steppe mammoths were up to 15 feet tall and weighed up to 11 tons. Imagine what it took to feed them....
There is a theory about the Woolly Mammoths. They were covered with very thick fur. We know today that weather fronts can have rain on one side and freezing conditions, ice and snow on the other. The demise of the Woolly Mammoths most probably occurred when they were grazing as they usually did when a strong rain front came through and soaked them to their skin. What must have occurred next was freezing conditions on the backside of the rain front. They would begin to freeze as their coat was compromised with rain. They may have tried to move to shelter, but, the freezing temperatures finished the deed and the Woolly Mammoth was assigned to history intact. Snow fell on top of the deceased individual Woolly Mammoth and became invisible over time.
They were in Siberia because of the rich and seemingly limitless grassland. This rich grassland had 10-20 thousand years to incubate and turn into methane underneath the ice sheath. Now, that sheath is disappearing. The thaws are lasting longer, and the resistance of the ground holding the methane is diminishing. The methane is either escaping or pooling underneath. It was the perfect combination of events to create these vast reserves of methane.
The consequences of a methane proliferation in the Siberian landscape has not yet been evaluated. However, you don’t have to be Lewis and Clark to map out the area where the proliferation of methane from centuries of decay resides to see what could happen with the only trap door holding it in was suddenly opened.
Is there an solution?... (See below)
...Now add a nation that supports an oligarchical society whose prior history has little regard for human life let alone the environment. The release of methane will affect not only the Russian Federation but the entire world. What will it take to convince that nation of its responsibility to deal with this inevitable environmental problem? It will take a worldwide effort to legislate and enforce. At this juncture, there is no plan to even measure the gas nor its rate of ascension, by them that is. Fortunately, others are....
...Most people are not even aware of the aforementioned discussion. Making people aware of the situation may be job one. I think Russia should perform a survey and make an assessment of the capture of methane or the burning of extraneous methane on its own. America should value its relationship with China and examine its relationship with Russia. This may be difficult with a president who believes global warming is a hoax, marginalizes science and scientists, places tariffs on our biggest trading partner and rents to Russia’s most notorious organized crime figures.
Decades ago the USA embarked on a pipeline project that brings oil from Alaska to the lower 48 states. There was a problem with Permafrost and the temperature of oil. The Permafrost was melting UNTIL:Trans Alaska oil pipeline is buried whenever possible, but permafrost soil conditions require the pipeline to be above ground. Metal fins help dissipate heat and cold.
...Engineers (click here) would have buried the entire pipeline had it not been for permafrost (permanently frozen soil) lying in sheets and wedges beneath the surface. The pipeline couldn’t be buried in permafrost because the heat of the oil would cause the icy soil to melt. The pipe would then sag, and possibly leak. Because much of Alaska is underlain with permafrost, Alyeska routed just over half the pipeline above ground. Where it snakes over land, the pipeline is supported by posts designed to keep permafrost frozen. Topped with fan-like aluminum radiators, the posts radiate heat from the ground into the cold winter air to keep the soil solidly frozen. When the air temperature is 40 below, for example, the posts cool down to 40 below and take away heat from the soil, assuring the ground stays frozen....The Climate Crisis is a global problem. There is no reason why this measure (If it serves to protect permafrost without pipelines) can't be evaluated and placed throughout the Permafrost globally. Certainly, this method can be used for Russia's pipelines. Scientists will have to investigate the effectiveness of these measures with a warming climate along this pipeline and free standing equivalents to protect the Permafrost. These measures have to move forward if proven to be effective and the UN has a right to insist on it.
