Last Straw

A rather unsettling story from the Independent today:

The first evidence that millions of tons of a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere from beneath the Arctic seabed has been discovered by scientists.

The Independent has been passed details of preliminary findings suggesting that massive deposits of sub-sea methane are bubbling to the surface as the Arctic region becomes warmer and its ice retreats.

Underground stores of methane are important because scientists believe their sudden release has in the past been responsible for rapid increases in global temperatures, dramatic changes to the climate, and even the mass extinction of species.

I find it incredible that we’ve allowed ourselves to get to this point while continuing to use the same bankrupt ideas, the same leadership and the same greed-fueled economic system that got us here in the first place.