Methane hydrate ice… it doesn’t sound so bad, but there’s enough of it trapped under the polar caps to suffocate every man, woman, and child on Earth…and the caps are melting. This is just one of five scenarios that require a new type of high-priority environmental task-force to combat — a proposal for a new type of Manhattan Project – this time with our survival on the line.
Twice before, 55 million and 251 million years ago, naturally occurring methane hydrate meltdowns caused “burps” almost wiped out life on earth, and unless we take action soon, it may happen again. We are in serious danger of triggering an irreversible event and ending human life on earth, perhaps before 2050. It may happen even sooner, as the arctic regions are showing the greatest temperature increases from greenhouse gas emissions. Burning fossil fuels each year spews into the atmosphere the equivalent of almost 17,000 volcanoes the size of the presently active one in Hawaii.
Geologist John Atcheson has written two important articles entitled “Ticking Time Bomb” and, “Hotter, Faster, Worser”. He states: “The scientific community failed to adequately anticipate that we are fast approaching — and perhaps well past — several tipping points which would make global warming irreversible.”
