Thanks John, Yes, I do now recall the study review on that website. I came across it shortly after publication. I have not read the full text of the study as my budget for science journal subscriptions is maxed out. If you know of anyone with a file copy, I would like to read the full text of the study.
Based only upon the Summary of the study, it is clearly a geological area which needs close monitoring. I was hoping to find references to the hydrate formations in that ocean region. Low atmospheric pressure has been indicated in methane hydrate release in other areas. I have worked for a few years in the Bering just east of the ESAS and know how that area is constantly exposed to low pressure systems. My interest in reading the study was to find any references to any studies linking atmospheric conditions with methane release rates in the ESAS. The severe conditions in that area (and particularly during low pressure events) would make longterm monitoring tough, dangerous and an expensive campaign. I was hoping to build a knowledge base to allow me to put forth a proposal to use commercial fishing vessels working those waters to take methane samples during sever weather events. Both American and Russian commercial fishing fleets operate in the general area much of the year. NOAA does send out marine fishery observers on American fishing vessels and that is a cadre which could be easily trained to do the sampling work. Long Liner fishing gear is perfect for taking samples from the sea floor to 50 ft above the surface (during severe weather conditions). After my initial interest and thinking through the potential for better sampling, I started to become aware of the space based assets now in place. Here is visual mapping of atmospheric methane as of 2/2010; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Airs_methane_2006_2009_359hpa.png Over this past year, I have periodically tried to educate myself on the current information through the parent website for that map. http://www.gosat.nies.go.jp/index_e.html That program is a resource within this broader effort; http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/acdisc In short, I have some reason to believe that methane release in ESAS is under reported....Probably buy a significant factor due to limited sampling. Space based assets are hobbled by heavy cloud cover. There is reason to believe that the low pressures associated with heavy cloud cover are probably producing "spikes" of methane (hydrate) release. The ESAS is a shallow area and thus would be more suseptible to atmospheric pressure related releases than those of deeper hydrate formation areas. Direct surface and sub surface sampling would seem like the only way to verify weather related releases in the ESAS or other similar areas. With all this said, how do we start to "manage" the situation? Geoengineering is just now getting minor formal recognition. The US spent less than $2m on direct GE reseach last year. Consepts for localized application of SRM are being developed simply at the "Hobby" level from a funding perspective. As a layperson who has spent time reviewing the extent of the current and possible near term enviromental conditions, I am alarmed at what I see. But, again, what Can we do? Thanks for your reply, John. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To post to this group, send email to geoengineering@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to geoengineering+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en.
