The more likely definition of this discovery is the release of methane. This is most likely a methane hydrate. As far as we know underwater fires are not that common yet, UNTIL, the saturation of 'aqueous' amounts of methane and hydrocarbons allows it to happen.
The question is how much does the global community tolerate of these mischievous activities for profit when Earth's intolerance of excess greenhouse gases is already know. The excesses of greenhouse gases has been well known for decades. That knowledge is what sparked the conservation movement in the 1960s in the USA.
What is of concern is the complete irreverence by governments, especially the USA, to allow atmospheric deterioration which has lead to deaths, droughts and suffering to benefit wealth. Here again the concept within capitalism raises it's ugly side which is the wealth of a few causes suffering of many. Capitalism is not demanded to be benevolent. This is one of the prime examples of how when allowed to compel economies can actually destroy them.
Capitalism has characteristics, no different than the physical characteristics of petroleum products. The characteristics of capitalism are on a spectrum. This level of disregard of life and quality of life and the right for all peoples to their lives is one of the more egregious characteristics of capitalism in practice.
When does this end? Never?
March 15, 2013
Japan announced Tuesday (click here) that researchers had succesfully produced natural gas from offshore methane hydrates, a breakthrough with potentially explosive consequences for both global energy markets and the effort to tackle climate change.
The Japanese Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry announced that a team aboard a drilling ship pearched above the Eastern Nankai Trough had extracted the gas from hydrates trapped 1,000 feet below the sea floor surface. Methane hydrates, also known as clathrates, are deposits of natural gas trapped within the crystaline structure of frozen water, leading some to refer to hydrates as "fire ice."...
When does automated capitalism realize it has destroyed the potential employment of a generation of Americans. Not just employment, but, their birth right and promise.
One of the dreamscapes of the petroleum industry is for a CEO to be able to sit on a beach to soak up the sun (I am assuming with ample supplies of sunscreen) while controlling the production in the companies oil and methane fields by computer. I suppose the joke is the salary would justify the burden.
But, the fact of the matter is the petroleum industry is seeking that path. The industry wants completely automated production that cannot be stopped except by those controlling the computer panel. Question comes to mind, "Where are the Chinese hackers when one needs them?" Anonymous, I suppose.
But, levity aside. These same people want to automate everything. No unskilled labor required. They want to automate all forms of transportation including tanker trucks and even personal automobiles. These folks want to live in a world controlled by computers and untouchable by those outside the 'privilege' of wealth.
That arrogance exists, it exists to control wealth and to insult from regulation that might impinge on that wealth. This dreamscape is an outcrop of a characteristic of capitalism. Us and them. Wealth vs poverty. Lack of belonging vs conscience. Preference to isolation in comfort vs suffering. The list is endless.
All these so called discoveries to benefit petroleum discovery and use are all outdated as they happen, because, the planet we live on can't tolerate the abuse. Why go there at all?
