Tons Of Methane Gas Could Be Trapped Under Antarctica
September 17, 2012
U.S. Air Force Captain takes off from a sea ice airfield at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, U.S. following a "Operation Deep Freeze" mission to the weather station, which is crucial to the study of climate change and other global environmental is
BOB DOUGHTY: This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I’m Bob Doughty.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: And I’m Shirley Griffith. Today, we tell about methane gas thought to be trapped under ice-covered areas of Antarctica. We also tell about the growing use of generic drugs in fighting HIV, the virus responsible for AIDS. And we have a report on the search for an effective vaccine against HIV.
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BOB DOUGHTY: An international team of scientists has found that up to four billion tons of methane gas could be trapped under ice-covered areas of Antarctica. The scientists say extremely small organisms may have changed ancient organic matter into methane. And they say if enough ice melts, it is possible that enough of the gas could escape and add to the warming of Earth’s atmosphere.
Jemima Wadham of Bristol University in Britain directed the study. She says the amount of organic carbon recorded is more than ten times the size of all carbon supplies in Earth’s northern permafrost areas. The journal Nature published her report about the findings.
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