Melting Arctic glaciers expose new sources of planet-warming methane

Retreating glaciers within the Arctic are exposing groundwater springs containing very excessive concentrations of methane, which can add important portions of the greenhouse gasoline to the environment.

“This is a novel methane emissions pathway that we hadn’t identified before,” says Gabrielle Kleber on the University of Cambridge.

Hundreds of springs have emerged on the base of retreating glaciers throughout the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. Kleber was intrigued by the springs, partly due to their “sulphuric, eggy smell”. Although methane is odourless, microbes in high-methane circumstances typically produce gases like hydrogen sulphide which have this distinctive odor. “We knew …