Russian scientists have uncovered trapped methane gas in the Arctic Ocean that, if released, could greatly accelerate that rate of global warming, reports the Independent.
The scale of the methane plumes, trapped under the frozen sea has amazed researchers. One scientist told the Independent:
"Earlier we found torch-like structures like this but they were only tens of meters in diameter. This is the first time that we've found continuous, powerful and impressive seeping structures more than 1,000 metres in diameter. It's amazing."
Methane has an effect on the environment 20 times worse than that of carbon dioxide, so understandably there is great concern over whether this gas will be released.
On the bright side, an op-ed in the New York Times begs to differ that this new discovery is a huge threat to the environment. It argues that though the build of of methane in the Arctic Ocean can't be denied, this process has been going on for thousands of years.
It concludes, with the help of scientific research, that the release of the gas won't affect the planet this millennium.