Some Obscurish facts
#1290
Scientists have found convincing evidence of 8 major extinctions in the history of the world, at least 5 of them connected to sudden changes in climate. Recent research has linked four of these extinction events to sudden releases of vast amounts of methane into the ocean and atmosphere. The most likely source is from the vast frozen deposits of methane hydrates (also called clathrates) that form over millions of years, as rotting organic matter releases methane that then combines with water in the cold, deep parts of the ocean, and freezes. It seems that periodically, conditions change in the world-ocean so that the gas hydrate deposits become unstable and melt, releasing huge amounts of methane, which is 25 times more potent a greenhouse gas as CO2, into the atmosphere. The resulting sudden 5 to 8 degree C (9 to 14.5 F) in worldwide average temperature would lead to vast numbers of extinctions, such as the one at the end of the Permian period, some 250 million years ago, in which an estimated 95% of all life-forms on the earth were killed off.
Scientists have found convincing evidence of 8 major extinctions in the history of the world, at least 5 of them connected to sudden changes in climate. Recent research has linked four of these extinction events to sudden releases of vast amounts of methane into the ocean and atmosphere. The most likely source is from the vast frozen deposits of methane hydrates (also called clathrates) that form over millions of years, as rotting organic matter releases methane that then combines with water in the cold, deep parts of the ocean, and freezes. It seems that periodically, conditions change in the world-ocean so that the gas hydrate deposits become unstable and melt, releasing huge amounts of methane, which is 25 times more potent a greenhouse gas as CO2, into the atmosphere. The resulting sudden 5 to 8 degree C (9 to 14.5 F) in worldwide average temperature would lead to vast numbers of extinctions, such as the one at the end of the Permian period, some 250 million years ago, in which an estimated 95% of all life-forms on the earth were killed off.