"Methane: The BP Oil Gusher's Terrifying Menace"

"Methane: The BP Oil Gusher's Terrifying Menace"

by Laura Knight-Jadczyk

"The issue of methane and outgassing has occupied me to quite some extent for the past few years particularly after writing "New Light on the Black Death: The Cosmic Connection." I even asked the SOTT.net editors to keep their eyes open for news items about anything that might be related to outgassings. There's quite a collection in the database if you search. And now, with the recent news about the methane involvement in the BP Gusher, and that news getting more dire every day, I started digging around for some data I knew I had written about and, after finding a few things, I thought: how interesting that this "Mother of all Gushers" may give birth to the "Mother of all Storms." You'll understand what I mean in a minute!

First, read this bit that is current on SOTT. "The Real Consequences of An Ocean Floor Collapse": Note that it says: "The two possible scenarios are either a complete collapse of the ocean floor right above the Deepwater Horizon well and surroundings or a partial collapse in the form of a mud slide on one side of the well."

In this article I wrote back in 2007: "Fire and Ice The Day After Tomorrow" there's a bunch of collected articles which includes one about The Lake Nyos Gas Explosion, Cameroon 1986 where we read: "Lake Nyos is one of only three lakes in the world known to be saturated with carbon dioxide - the others are Lake Monoun, also in Cameroon about 100 km away, and Lake Kivu in Rwanda. A magma chamber beneath the region is an abundant source of carbon dioxide, which seeps up through the lake bed, charging the waters of Lake Nyos with an estimated 90 million tonnes of CO2

Lake Nyos is thermally stratified, with layers of warm, less dense water near the surface floating on the colder, denser water layers near the lake's bottom. Over long periods, carbon dioxide gas seeping into the cold water at the lake's bottom is dissolved in great amounts. Most of the time, the lake is stable and the CO2 remains in solution in the lower layers. However, over time the water becomes supersaturated, and if an event such as an earthquake or volcanic eruption occurs, large amounts of CO2 may suddenly come out of solution.

Although a sudden outgassing of CO2 had occurred at Lake Monoun in 1984, killing 37 local residents, a similar threat from Lake Nyos was not anticipated. However, on August 21, 1986, a limnic eruption occurred at Lake Nyos which triggered the sudden release of about 1.6 million tonnes of CO2. The gas rushed down two nearby valleys, displacing all the air and suffocating up to 1,800 people within 20 km of the lake, mostly rural villagers, as well as 3,500 livestock. About 4,000 inhabitants fled the area, and many of these developed respiratory problems, burns, and paralysis as a result of the gases. It is not known what triggered the catastrophic outgassing. Most geologists suspect a landslide, but some believe that a small volcanic eruption may have occurred on the bed of the lake. A third possibility is that cool rainwater falling on one side of the lake triggered the overturn. Whatever the cause, the event resulted in the rapid mixing of the supersaturated deep water with the upper layers of the lake, where the reduced pressure allowed the stored CO2 to effervesce out of solution.

It is believed that up to a cubic kilometre of gas was released. Because CO2 is denser than air, the gas flowed off the mountainous flank in which Lake Nyos rests and down two adjoining valleys in a layer tens of metres deep, displacing the air and suffocating all the people and animals before it could dissipate. The normally blue waters of the lake turned a deep red after the outgassing, due to iron-rich water from the deep rising to the surface and being oxidised by the air. The level of the lake dropped by about a metre, representing the volume of gas released. The outgassing probably also caused an overflow of the waters of the lake. Trees near the lake were knocked down."

The lake Nyos situation was about a different kind of gas... maybe. In any case, a similar event with methane is even more problematical. Anyway, there is a lot in that article I wrote in 2007 that applies to the present situation, most particularly: John Barnes, in his fiction novel, "Mother of Storms," described the release of vast quantities of methane as the trigger for a global superstorm that nearly destroys the earth. "Mother of Storms" takes place about thirty years from now. The UN has become dominant and at the start of the book the US President is maneuvering desperately to avoid losing any more sovereignty to the UN. The UN undertakes a nuclear strike against the Siberian Republic's secret- and illegal- nuclear weapons caches buried in the Arctic seabed. The explosions result in the release of huge amount of methane from the methane clathrates buried there. The methane causes a near-runaway greenhouse effect with global temperatures going up by 10 degrees F in a matter of months. The hot, wet oceans are perfect breeding grounds for hurricanes which rapidly develop into storms of unprecedented strength, duration and number.

Obviously, if such a scenario were to play out at present, the roles would be reversed to what Barnes imagined: it would be the U.S. undertaking a nuclear strike that unleashes the methane that triggers the Global Superstorm. It would probably only be in such a manner that enough methane would be released fast enough to make such an impact.

The above really caught my eye. In the book, "Mother of Storms," the methane is released by a nuclear explosion in the arctic... well, so far they haven't set off any nukes in the Gulf of Mexico, but it looks like the situation there is developing rather similarly to what John Barnes described in his novel. He did a lot of research on the science, by the way, so it's worth reading just to get an idea of what COULD happen!

Then, there is the issue of earthquakes in the Gulf of Mexico. A few years ago I noted that there was an unusual earthquake in the Gulf and we archived the item on SOTT.net: 5.2 Earthquake Dead Center In Gulf Of Mexico - Precursor to a New Madrid Big One? Just read it and think about it.

Next, History Channel Mega Disasters - Methane Explosion, just to give you an idea of what all this means:

Even if nothing so cataclysmic happens, we have to deal with Gulf Coast Toxicity Syndrome which could kill and/or disable millions. Many different gases from hydrogen sulfate to benzene are being released into the air at around 4000 times what it considered safe to humans. As a result of this people are going to become gravely ill. People are going to be poisoned and unfortunately some are going to die. We have already seen breathing problems in the Gulf region and now reports are coming in as far away as Atlanta, Georgia. In addition to destroying the wildlife, killing animals and devastating the coastal economy, the massive oil spill in the Gulf will have damaging psychological and physical consequences for Gulf coast residents, the entire state of Florida, and the southeastern United States. And we are not even talking worse case scenarios.

Others are worried about a massive loss of life through a methane explosion that would create a tidal wave that would take out all of Florida and most of the rest of the Gulf region. Included in the worst case scenarios is a toxic rain falling upon tens of millions further north from the Gulf as wind patterns and or a hurricane comes barreling into the region. Others see the entire North Atlantic turning into a black and very dead sea and the nightmare scenarios go on and on making any serious readers' stomach sick to death over what has been done to our planet. We have allowed corporate capitalists do something they cannot undo and this is sad and truly tragic for the future of our children.

I know that all of us are feeling a little shell-shocked with the current events. It really is scary and for a good reason: it is a dangerous time to be alive. According to the Cs, we have very little time left. And, based on what we are seeing with the climate change business, adding the possible effects of the BP Gusher on Florida, the "coming global superstorm" is not so crazy an idea anymore. It could be next winter, or the winter after... and the planet could be locked down in ice for the next 10,000 years or so. We don't know.

We DO know that economically, this next year is going to be tough. I'm seeing failed harvests all over the globe due to the weather and the price of food going through the roof. Revolution is also possible. One thing is certain, Florida is going to be a place to get out of and stay out of because the situation is so unstable there."

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