Apr 2nd, 2017: Thermokarst Lakes

[Snakeadelic]

Here's one that went Blammo:

https://wryheat.files.wordpress.com/...ngo-crater.jpg

And here's a huge one in northern Canada that hadn't exploded yet:

http://tinyurl.com/nxhposq

And one that blew out a chunk of a road:

http://tinyurl.com/ltl4p56

Silly-ish name, scary phenomenon. Some of these things get several stories high before they blow. The scariest part is that the EPA is currently repealing all kinds of "behave responsibly" regulations for the oil industry, and one of the places that's had a bullseye on it in oil-company eyes for decades is Alaska, where you bet these things are forming up as well. Only a matter of time before a rig hits one or one pops up unexpectedly under a pipeline. Which, if the info I remember isn't hopelessly outdated, would probably be in or running through Denali National Park.

[xoxoxoBruce]

The current pipeline is nowhere near Denali Park, but that doesn't protect either one from this shit.

[glatt]

Is this a tipping point?

I understand that methane is a much more powerful climate change agent than carbon dioxide is. If the world is warming up enough to start releasing this trapped methane, is there enough of it to get into a run away feedback loop kind of thing where the climate changes dramatically as the methane is released?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Methane is 30 time worse than CO2. We see the methane that comes up through the water but not what comes straight out of the ground. An estimated 205 Billion tonnes(226 Billion tons) from just the permafrost, not to mention the warming ocean has a shitload of Methane clathrate it may give up.
I'd guess the tipping point is nigh.