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Methane: Arctic

Answer

The Department is contributing to the Arctic Research Programme (ARP) of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), which aims to improve our capability to predict changes in the Arctic, particularly over timescales of months to decades, including regional impacts and the potential for feedbacks on the global Earth System.

Part of this programme includes observational measurements to quantity and understand better methane release from the Arctic, including from continental shelves under the Arctic Ocean. The ARP is also collaborating with Canadian scientists and the Met Office Hadley Centre (MOHC), on the study of methane release from Arctic permafrost.

The most recent data suggest that marine sources of methane in the Arctic are currently insignificant and, although Arctic terrestrial methane emissions may be increasing in places, overall there has been no significant increase.

Current evidence suggests that recent methane release in the Arctic has had limited effect on the climate but that much larger emissions, if they were to occur in the future, would potentially have a major impact. These are considered most likely to arise from land-based permafrost sources rather than from marine sources, but further research is required to understand better the risks.

Further information on the ARP is available at:

http://www.arctic.ac.uk/programme/

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

157071; 563 c944W

Session

2013-14

Subjects

Climate change Arctic Methane

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk