Oslo, Norway: The Arctic Ocean, according to various researches leaks enormous amounts of the potent greenhouse gas methane which have been ongoing for thousands of years but could be intensified by a future warmer ocean. The potential for this gas to escape the ocean, and contribute to the greenhouse gas budget in the atmosphere, is an important mystery that scientists are trying to solve.
A recent paper in Nature Communications reveals that the total amount of methane in the atmosphere has increased immensely over the past decades, and the moon can play a vital role to control that.
Small pressure changes affect methane release and the moon controls one of the most formidable forces in nature like the tides that shape coastlines. Tides, in turn, significantly affect the intensity of methane emissions from the Arctic Ocean seafloor. Co-author of the paper Andreia Plaza Faverola said, "We noticed that gas accumulations, which are in the sediments within a meter from the seafloor, are vulnerable to even slight pressure changes in the water column.
Low tide means less of such hydrostatic pressure and higher intensity of methane release. High tide equals high pressure and lower intensity of the release." Meanwhile, another co-author Jochen Knies revealed that it was the first time that an observation has been made in the Arctic Ocean which showed that slight pressure changes can release significant amounts of methane. The observation proved to be a game-changer for the study that unveiled new facts about the same.
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(ANI)
