The Hidden Methane Time Bomb That Could Accelerate The Climate Crisis

隐藏的甲烷定时炸弹,可能加速气候危机

New Scientist Podcasts

2026-05-20

18 分钟
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Episode 370 The melting ice caps are accelerating global warming and contributing to sea level rise, but could also contribute to a different kind of climate catastrophe. The melting may cause massive amounts of frozen methane to bubble up into the atmosphere. It happened thousands of years ago - and scientists are concerned it’s about to happen again. Methane is a greenhouse gas which is 86 times more potent than CO2. Some estimates suggest this frozen methane - methane hydrates - contain twice as much warming potential as all the coal, oil and gas on Earth. Scientists have now discovered a new way for methane in Greenland to be unleashed. It’s not a threat that has been taken seriously as the evidence has been inconclusive. But perhaps it’s time for us to take notice? Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet are joined by New Scientist’s Alec Luhn to discuss the news. To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  • Melting ice caps are bad for lots of reasons.

  • One we don't talk about so much is that the melting could allow massive amounts of methane,

  • frozen under the ice, to bubble out into the atmosphere.

  • Which would be really bad.

  • Yeah, really bad.

  • Methane is a greenhouse gas that is far more potent than carbon dioxide.

  • It can cause 86 times as much warming per molecule as CO2 over a 20-year period.

  • And that's why stopping things like methane leaks from gas pipelines is really important.

  • Yeah, we hear quite a lot about those pipeline leaks and it's important to stop those.

  • But, you know, at least they're fixable.