ALASKA — Researchers have discovered a lake in Alaska that is bubbling due to methane emissions.
Due to increasing temperatures from global warming, ground that used to be permafrost in the Arctic is now thawing and releasing trapped greenhouse gases into the air, thereby accelerating climate change.
According to the Washington Post, Katey Walter Anthony, an associate professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Esieh Lake is bubbling because of methane gas.
The gases are geological in origin. The researchers say there are fossil fuels buried close to the bottom of the lake, and in combination with the melting of the permafrost, represent a source of greenhouse gases.
The lake emits around two tons of methane gas daily — the equivalent of methane emissions from 6,000 dairy cows.
Scientists will need to do further research to see if this phenomenon is occurring in other Arctic lakes.
