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Bailout Mania * WTC science * Extremists


29 September 2008

"..After stealing a half trillion dollars to line the pockets
of their war-profiteering backers for the past five years,
after lining the pockets of their fellow oilmen to the tune
of over a hundred billion dollars in just the last two years,
Bush and his cronies -- who must soon vacate the White House
-- are looting the U.S. Treasury of every dollar they can grab.."


-- Michael Moore

1) Bailout Out of Balance, loses footing, what is next
- - Bailout bill fails on first House vote; what next is unclear
- - The Rich Are Staging a Coup This Morning says Michael Moore
- - The Bailout Is - Literally - Fascist
- - US Banking Collapse a 'Controlled Demolition' (and other tales)
- - David Ray Griffin: Bush Doctrine enters American vocabulary
- - Vice President Dick Cheney's Incredible and Deadly Lie
- - US Combat Troops in Iraq repatriated to 'help with civil unrest'
2) Scientists, Scholars, Architects & Engineers respond to NIST and more
- - Statement of September 11th Advocates Regarding NIST WTC7 report
- - Alex Jones talks to David Ray Griffin
- - The Scarlet A: Links between the Anthrax Attacks and 9/11
3) Israel Extremists – I ACCUSE
4) The Methane Time Bomb

Editor’s Notes:


Bailout mania has its clutches on the minds of wall and main streets today. Some in Congress have stood up, believing the bailout could make the problem worse, perhaps only providing cover for those who created the mess in the first place. This is the understanding of the global financial intelligence publication, World Reports. Michael Moore has come forth on this issue, too, and others. The second item covers more on the response to the NIST report on WTC-7 collapse. I recommend downloading to read and pass on the article Scientists, Scholars, Architects & Engineers respond to NIST. Item 3 is on the fight within Israel, where like in the US, extremists have wrestled control from the majority who would choose a policy to enable peace. The last item is on the methane time bomb. Happy New Year?


Valley 9/11 Truth
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Martial Law 9/11:
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Media Education Foundation, Northampton, MA

Tuesday, October 14, 2008; 7:00 PM


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Green Fields Market 144 Main Street, Greenfield, MA
Wednesday, October 22, 2008; 5:30 - 7:30 PM


ZERO, an investigation into the events of 9/11
Italian film shown in European Parliament 26 February 2008,
Also broadcast on Russian State Television 12 September 2008
and with Valley 9/11 Truth in Greenfield, MA; November 5, 2008



1) Bailout Out of Balance, loses footing, what is next

- - Bailout bill fails on first House vote; what next is unclear
- - The Rich Are Staging a Coup This Morning says Michael Moore
- - The Bailout Is - Literally - Fascist
- - US Banking Collapse a 'Controlled Demolition' (and other tales)
- - David Ray Griffin: Bush Doctrine enters American vocabulary
- - Vice President Dick Cheney's Incredible and Deadly Lie
- - US Combat Troops in Iraq repatriated to 'help with civil unrest'


- - Bailout bill fails on first House vote; what next is unclear
29 Sep 2008
By Kevin G. Hall | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — The $700 billion bailout of the financial industry failed to win congressional approval on Monday, with the House of Representatives rejecting the measure.

The measure could still be reconsidered today — if House Republicans request it. It was unclear whether that would happen, however.

The vote tally was 228 to 205, with 95 Democrats joining 133 Republicans voting against the package, which had been cobbled together during days of late-night negotiations. The leadership of each party consented to keep the vote open while they tried to twist arms in a failed effort to win a majority in the House.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by as much as 705 points during the wait. It recovered after the result was clear and was down less than 500 points shortly afterward.

The result was both a surprise, and yet not unexpected. The White House was confident that enough Republicans would support the controversial bill, which had won public support from key leaders.

But the bill also put representatives squarely at odds with their constituents, who'd flooded their offices in recent days with expressions of contempt for the proposed bailout.

Republican House leaders blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for increasing the partisan tenor of the vote. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said he believed that a speech Pelosi gave angered a dozen Republicans who intended to vote for the bill. "They were there reluctantly and it didn't take much to turn them off," Blunt said.

House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio said he would reach out to the Democrats in hopes of reaching another compromise bill.

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama expressed disappointment in the result but blamed Republicans for the conditions that led to the vote.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/53232.html

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- - The Rich Are Staging a Coup This Morning says Michael Moore

Friends,

Let me cut to the chase. The biggest robbery in the history of this country is taking place as you read this. Though no guns are being used, 300 million hostages are being taken. Make no mistake about it: After stealing a half trillion dollars to line the pockets of their war-profiteering backers for the past five years, after lining the pockets of their fellow oilmen to the tune of over a hundred billion dollars in just the last two years, Bush and his cronies -- who must soon vacate the White House -- are looting the U.S. Treasury of every dollar they can grab. They are swiping as much of the silverware as they can on their way out the door.

No matter what they say, no matter how many scare words they use, they are up to their old tricks of creating fear and confusion in order to make and keep themselves and the upper one percent filthy rich. Just read the first four paragraphs of the lead story in last Monday's New York Times and you can see what the real deal is:

"Even as policy makers worked on details of a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, Wall Street began looking for ways to profit from it.

"Financial firms were lobbying to have all manner of troubled investments covered, not just those related to mortgages.

"At the same time, investment firms were jockeying to oversee all the assets that Treasury plans to take off the books of financial institutions, a role that could earn them hundreds of millions of dollars a year in fees.

"Nobody wants to be left out of Treasury's proposal to buy up bad assets of financial institutions."

Unbelievable. Wall Street and its backers created this mess and now they are going to clean up like bandits. Even Rudy Giuliani is lobbying for his firm to be hired (and paid) to "consult" in the bailout.

The problem is, nobody truly knows what this "collapse" is all about. Even Treasury Secretary Paulson admitted he doesn't know the exact amount that is needed (he just picked the $700 billion number out of his head!). The head of the congressional budget office said he can't figure it out nor can he explain it to anyone.

And yet, they are screeching about how the end is near! Panic! Recession! The Great Depression! Y2K! Bird flu! Killer bees! We must pass the bailout bill today!! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

Falling for whom? NOTHING in this "bailout" package will lower the price of the gas you have to put in your car to get to work. NOTHING in this bill will protect you from losing your home. NOTHING in this bill will give you health insurance.

Health insurance? Mike, why are you bringing this up? What's this got to do with the Wall Street collapse?

It has everything to do with it. This so-called "collapse" was triggered by the massive defaulting and foreclosures going on with people's home mortgages. Do you know why so many Americans are losing their homes? To hear the Republicans describe it, it's because too many working class idiots were given mortgages that they really couldn't afford. Here's the truth: The number one cause of people declaring bankruptcy is because of medical bills. Let me state this simply: If we had had universal health coverage, this mortgage "crisis" may never have happened.

This bailout's mission is to protect the obscene amount of wealth that has been accumulated in the last eight years. It's to protect the top shareholders who own and control corporate America. It's to make sure their yachts and mansions and "way of life" go uninterrupted while the rest of America suffers and struggles to pay the bills. Let the rich suffer for once. Let them pay for the bailout. We are spending 400 million dollars a day on the war in Iraq. Let them end the war immediately and save us all another half-trillion dollars!

I have to stop writing this and you have to stop reading it. They are staging a financial coup this morning in our country. They are hoping Congress will act fast before they stop to think, before we have a chance to stop them ourselves. So stop reading this and do something -- NOW! Here's what you can do immediately:

1. Call or e-mail Senator Obama. Tell him he does not need to be sitting there trying to help prop up Bush and Cheney and the mess they've made. Tell him we know he has the smarts to slow this thing down and figure out what's the best route to take. Tell him the rich have to pay for whatever help is offered. Use the leverage we have now to insist on a moratorium on home foreclosures, to insist on a move to universal health coverage, and tell him that we the people need to be in charge of the economic decisions that affect our lives, not the barons of Wall Street.

2. Take to the streets. Participate in one of the hundreds of quickly-called demonstrations that are taking place all over the country (especially those near Wall Street and DC).

3. Call your Representative in Congress and your Senators. (click here to find their phone numbers). Tell them what you told Senator Obama.

When you screw up in life, there is hell to pay. Each and every one of you reading this knows that basic lesson and has paid the consequences of your actions at some point. In this great democracy, we cannot let there be one set of rules for the vast majority of hard-working citizens, and another set of rules for the elite, who, when they screw up, are handed one more gift on a silver platter. No more! Not again!

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. Having read further the details of this bailout bill, you need to know you are being lied to. They talk about how they will prevent golden parachutes. It says NOTHING about what these executives and fat cats will make in SALARY. According to Rep. Brad Sherman of California, these top managers will continue to receive million-dollar-a-month paychecks under this new bill. There is no direct ownership given to the American people for the money being handed over. Foreign banks and investors will be allowed to receive billion-dollar handouts. A large chunk of this $700 billion is going to be given directly to Chinese and Middle Eastern banks. There is NO guarantee of ever seeing that money again.

P.P.S. From talking to people I know in DC, they say the reason so many Dems are behind this is because Wall Street this weekend put a gun to their heads and said either turn over the $700 billion or the first thing we'll start blowing up are the pension funds and 401(k)s of your middle class constituents. The Dems are scared they may make good on their threat. But this is not the time to back down or act like the typical Democrat we have witnessed for the last eight years. The Dems handed a stolen election over to Bush. The Dems gave Bush the votes he needed to invade a sovereign country. Once they took over Congress in 2007, they refused to pull the plug on the war. And now they have been cowered into being accomplices in the crime of the century. You have to call them now and say "NO!" If we let them do this, just imagine how hard it will be to get anything good done when President Obama is in the White House. THESE DEMOCRATS ARE ONLY AS STRONG AS THE BACKBONE WE GIVE THEM. CALL CONGRESS NOW.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/
Also posted at http://911blogger.com/node/17970

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- - The Bailout Is - Literally - Fascist
George Washington's Blog

A former senior advisor to the U.S. Treasury and highly-regarded economics professor, Nouriel Roubini, says that Washington’s bail outs are “socialism for the rich, the well connected and Wall Street; it is . . . a corrupt system where profits are privatized and losses are socialized.”

In fact, this is a quintessential characteristic of economies run by fascist regimes.

Truncated, for the complete article, see: http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2008/09/fascist-economics-state-pays-for.html

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- - US Banking Collapse a 'Controlled Demolition' (and other tales)

"We are in the middle of a crisis much larger than most Americans could imagine, a portion of America can't even handle it, for that matter. The Bailout is an awful idea, and the majority of Americans realize that. There is even a provision that would grant Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson dictatorial powers, and that is obviously insane, but here we are debating it. It's like asking a dead man whether he wants to be buried or cremated; it's a non issue and Congress is just playing a game to distract the American people. We need to move ahead, and we should begin with taking our country back from the tyrants."

911blogger – read more: http://911blogger.com/node/17971

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- - David Ray Griffin: Bush Doctrine enters American vocabulary
(San Francisco Gate)

David Ray Griffin
Friday, September 26, 2008

Thanks to the Sept. 11 interview of Sarah Palin by Charles Gibson of ABC News, the Bush Doctrine has become part of the American vocabulary. Although it has been a fateful doctrine - it was used to justify the attack on Iraq - many Americans reported that they were as clueless about it as Gov. Palin.

So what is the Bush Doctrine? According to international law as generally understood since the creation of the United Nations, a pre-emptive attack is legal only if a country has certain knowledge that an attack on it is imminent - too imminent for the matter to be taken to the U.N. Security Council.

Pre-emptive war is different from preventive war, in which a country, fearing that another country may become strong enough to threaten it at some time in the future, attacks it to prevent this possibility. Preventive wars are illegal under international law.

This distinction, however, creates a terminological problem: Although preventive war is worse than pre-emptive war, to most ears preemption sounds worse. Many people, therefore, speak of pre-emptive war when they mean preventive war. To avoid confusion, we can use the term pre-emptive-preventive war.

Neoconservatives, the most powerful of whom is Vice President Dick Cheney, had long disliked the idea that America's use of military power could be constrained by the prohibition against preemptive-preventive war. In 1992, his last year as secretary of defense, Cheney produced a draft of the Defense Planning Guidance that said the United States should use force to "pre-empt" and "preclude threats." In 1998, the Project for the New American Century, a neocon think tank, urged President Bill Clinton to "undertake military action" to eliminate "the possibility that Iraq will be able to use or threaten to use weapons of mass destruction."

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the neocons were able to turn their wish into U.S. policy. In "The New American Militarism," Andrew Bacevich wrote: "The events of 9/11 provided the tailor-made opportunity to break free of the fetters restricting the exercise of American power."

The right to launch pre-emptive-preventive attacks, which came to be known as the Bush Doctrine, was suggested in the president's address at West Point in June 2002, when the administration began preparing citizens for the attack on Iraq. Having stated that deterrence "means nothing" in relation to "new threats," Bush declared: "If we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long."

This new doctrine was then fully articulated that September in "The National Security Strategy of the United States." Speaking of "our enemies' efforts to acquire dangerous technologies," this document declared that America will "act against such emerging threats before they are fully formed."

In justifying this change, the document suggested that the United States was merely adapting the traditional doctrine of preemption, long recognized as a right, to the new situation: "For centuries, international law recognized [the right of self-defense] against forces that present an imminent danger of attack. ... We must adapt the concept of imminent threat to the capabilities and objectives of today's adversaries. ... [We must take] anticipatory action to defend ourselves, even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack."

Although the strategy document thereby tried to suggest that this adaptation brought about no great change, it did. "Never before," pointed out Reagan conservatives Stefan Halper and Jonathan Clarke in "America Alone," "had any president set out a formal national strategy doctrine that included [preventive] preemption."

David Ray Griffin, professor emeritus at Claremont School of Theology, co-authored "The American Empire and the Commonwealth of God."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/25/EDGR135ERL.DTL

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- - Vice President Dick Cheney's Incredible and Deadly Lie
By John W. Dean

By Deceiving a Congressional Leader, Cheney Sent Us to War on False Pretenses
and Violated the Separation of Powers - as Well as the Criminal Law.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20814.htm

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- - US Combat Troops in Iraq repatriated to 'help with civil unrest'
http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20080929041159356

also from ArmyTimes.com - Brigade homeland tours start Oct. 1

3rd Infantry’s 1st BCT trains for a new dwell-time mission. Helping ‘people at home’ may become a permanent part of the active Army
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Sep 8, 2008 6:15:06 EDT
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w/



2) Scientists, Scholars, Architects & Engineers respond to NIST and more

- - Statement of September 11th Advocates Regarding NIST WTC7 report
- - Alex Jones talks to David Ray Griffin
- - The Scarlet A: Links between the Anthrax Attacks and 9/11

- - Scientists, Scholars, Architects & Engineers respond to NIST
via Electronic Mail: submitted to wtc@nist.gov
September 15, 2008
Re: Public Comments on WTC 7 Draft Reports

Dear Mr. Cauffman,

I am writing on behalf of a group of scientists, scholars, engineers and building professionals who are dedicated to scientific research regarding the destruction of all three high-rise buildings (WTC 1, 2 and 7) on September 11, 2001. We have examined the draft reports recently released by NIST purporting to explain the demise of WTC Building 7 (collectively referred to herein as the “Report”). We have found many areas that need to be revised and re-examined by NIST personnel before they release a final report on this matter. We have provided our names and affiliations at the end of this document, in accordance with the guidelines for submittal of comments promulgated by NIST at (http://wtc.nist.gov/media/comments2008.html).

At the outset, we would like to call attention to the fact that we requested a reasonable extension of time for the public to submit comments. Given the rate at which we were finding incorrect or contradictory statements in the Report, we would likely have found many more areas NIST needs to re-examine before issuing a final report. As we pointed out in our original correspondence with you requesting the extension, the original three week deadline was completely unreasonable. First, it took NIST more than three years to compile this 1000+ page Report. Why, then, were members of the public only given three weeks in which to comment? Moreover, NIST lists ten authors and dozens of contracted and employed staff, which over the three year investigation would yield somewhere in the neighborhood of 200,000 man-hours of labor. How did NIST expect members of the public to match or even come close to NIST's labor expenditure in three weeks? This first reason alone was enough to warrant a significant extension in the deadline for public comment.

Truncated, for the complete article, including graphics, see:
www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20080916203015883

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- - Statement of September 11th Advocates Regarding NIST WTC7 report

Statement of September 11th Advocates
Patty Casazza -- Monica Gabrielle -- Mindy Kleinberg -- Lorie Van Auken

Regarding the Release of the NIST Final Draft of Collapse of WTC7

For Immediate Release
September 26, 2008

NIST has finally released its long awaited investigative report regarding the collapse of World Trade Center 7. WTC 7 was the third building in the World Trade Center Complex to collapse at 5:20 PM on September 11, 2001. However, this building was not hit by an airplane.

As family members of 9/11 victims, we were extremely interested in the findings of this report. We had hoped that NIST’s report would serve to explain the cause of a total collapse of a conventional steel building and be able to refute the rampant conspiracy theories. We also hoped that this report, in conjunction with NIST's final reports on WTC 1 and 2, would offer recommendations for improved building and fire codes to ensure public safety in ALL buildings going forward.

While we feel that technical experts should review, critique and replicate the findings within this report, we also feel that we must express our concerns based on public comments by NIST regarding their findings.

For the complete article: http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20080927030009489

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- - Alex Jones talks to David Ray Griffin

About the current state of the 9/11 truth movement, how far we've come
and how far we have to go as we take the message mainstream.

http://www.radiodujour.com/people/griffin_david_ray/

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- - The Scarlet A: Links between the Anthrax Attacks and 9/11
by Barbara Honegger
www.opednews.com/articles/Anthrax-Links-to-9-11-by-Barbara-Honegger-080925-678.html



3) Israel Extremists – I ACCUSE

[FN note – I received the following from Edward C. Corrigan, who wrote:]

“Excellent article from a prominent Israeli academic who accuses right wing Israelis of racism and a totalitarian mind set that gave legitimacy to the recent terrorist attack against Prof. Zeev Sternhell and to other acts of terrorism against Jews in Israel. Carlo Strenger writes : "Who is Zeev Sternhell? He is a holocaust survivor who called himself a 'super-Zionist' in a recent interview; an IDF officer who fought in three of Israel's wars. Yes, he thinks that the occupation is a cancer that eats the soul of Israel; yes, he said that Palestinians should only attack Israelis who live in the West Bank and not inside the Green Line. He has said, time and again, that he is afraid Israel will not survive because of the occupation, and that he is worried for his children and grandchildren, because he wants them to be able to live in Israel. And he expressed empathy for the Palestinian struggle. That's why he was attacked."
- Ed Corrigan

I accuse
By Carlo Strenger
web haaretz.com
Last update - 12:36 28/09/2008

On the night between September 24 and 25, it happened again. Prof. Zeev Sternhell, an internationally acclaimed political scientist and historian, recipient of this year's Israel Prize for political science, was wounded by explosives put at his doorstep. As yet, we do not know who the perpetrators were, but whoever they will turn out to be, there are those who should wonder what is their part of the responsibility for this despicable act.

I accuse those Jews, inside Israel and outside, who run websites that track "dangerous left-wing intellectuals" in Israel. They call people like Zeev Sternhell "anti-Semitic," "self-hating Jews" and "enemies of Israel."

I accuse those in the Israeli right who turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to those among them who say that the law does not apply to them; to the settlers who break Israeli and international law and moral values on a daily basis, who harass Palestinians, beat them and sometimes murder them. The right-wing establishment is forgiving toward them. "Aren't they idealists? Don't they do what they do because of lofty ideals, because of the holiness of the Land of Israel?"

I accuse not only those who performed religious rituals condemning Yitzhak Rabin to death; not only those who carried posters of Rabin clad in SS uniform at demonstrations. I also accuse those who created the atmosphere that allowed for it, continued to speak at the demonstrations, and after Rabin was killed said they hadn't seen the posters.

I accuse those who claim that they - and they alone - represent Israel, its true interests and the Jewish-Israeli soul; who claim that anybody who has a different view of what is good for Israel are enemies who endanger Israel. To them applies the verse from Deuteronomy 33:9: "Who said of his father, and of his mother: 'I have not seen him;' neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew he his own children; for they have observed Thy word, and keep Thy covenant."

This verse attacks the fanaticism of the tribe of Levi, that like its mythical forefather, thought it could kill in the name of ideals that it had given absolute validity.

I accuse those who implicitly condone the acts of extremists by not saying that they are out of the question. They create the atmosphere that leads people like Yona Avrushmi and Yigal Amir to their murderous acts, and the perpetrators of last week's terror act to attack Zeev Sternhell.

Israel is a young democracy torn apart by conflicting values, by conflicting views about religion, a country that has yet to find its identity. Trenchant disputes, searching discussion and hard criticism of those on the opposing side are part and parcel of a liberal democracy.

Hate-speech that legitimizes blood-feud and rituals that condemn to death those who think differently are neither part of legitimate democratic discourse, nor part of a civilization that we want to belong to (never mind whether the prime minister or an academic who voices his views).

Let us not forget that Israel, rightly, demands of the Palestinians to stop its schools from inculcating hatred for Israel. The West, rightly, demands that Islamic authorities condemn the hate speeches of Imams who call for the extinction of Israel and conquest of the infidel world. We demand this, because we know that words create reality; injunctions to violence in the end find their ways into the hearts of fanatics who will put these words into practice.

So why should we apply a different standard to Jews who do the same thing? Why should we accept that Jews who call for violence, Jews who in the name of their ideals allow for the blood of their ideological opponents to be shed?

For too long the Israeli Right has taken a forgiving attitude toward its 'wild weeds.' For too long it has used extremists to present its own views as acceptable mainstream.

Who is Zeev Sternhell? He is a holocaust survivor who called himself a 'super-Zionist' in a recent interview; an IDF officer who fought in three of Israel's wars. Yes, he thinks that the occupation is a cancer that eats the soul of Israel; yes, he said that Palestinians should only attack Israelis who live in the West Bank and not inside the Green Line. He has said, time and again, that he is afraid Israel will not survive because of the occupation, and that he is worried for his children and grandchildren, because he wants them to be able to live in Israel. And he expressed empathy for the Palestinian struggle. That's why he was attacked.

It has happened again; I wish Professor Sternhell quick recovery and a happy New Year. But I may not be able to express such wishes to the next victim.

I accuse!

Prof. Carlo Strenger, a philosopher and psychoanalyst, teaches at the psychology department of Tel Aviv University and is a member of the Permanent Monitoring Panel on Terrorism of the World Federation of Scientists.



4) The Methane Time Bomb
Tuesday 23 September 2008
by: Steve Conner, The Independent UK

In the past few days, researchers believe that the sub-sea layer of permafrost has melted away to allow methane to rise from underground deposits formed before the last ice age. (Photo: Getty Images)

Arctic scientists discover new global warming threat as melting permafrost releases millions of tons of a gas 20 times more damaging than carbon dioxide.

The first evidence that millions of tons of a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere from beneath the Arctic seabed has been discovered by scientists.

The Independent has been passed details of preliminary findings suggesting that massive deposits of sub-sea methane are bubbling to the surface as the Arctic region becomes warmer and its ice retreats.

Underground stores of methane are important because scientists believe their sudden release has in the past been responsible for rapid increases in global temperatures, dramatic changes to the climate, and even the mass extinction of species. Scientists aboard a research ship that has sailed the entire length of Russia's northern coast have discovered intense concentrations of methane - sometimes at up to 100 times background levels - over several areas covering thousands of square miles of the Siberian continental shelf.

In the past few days, the researchers have seen areas of sea foaming with gas bubbling up through "methane chimneys" rising from the sea floor. They believe that the sub-sea layer of permafrost, which has acted like a "lid" to prevent the gas from escaping, has melted away to allow methane to rise from underground deposits formed before the last ice age.

They have warned that this is likely to be linked with the rapid warming that the region has experienced in recent years.

Methane is about 20 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and many scientists fear that its release could accelerate global warming in a giant positive feedback where more atmospheric methane causes higher temperatures, leading to further permafrost melting and the release of yet more methane.

The amount of methane stored beneath the Arctic is calculated to be greater than the total amount of carbon locked up in global coal reserves so there is intense interest in the stability of these deposits as the region warms at a faster rate than other places on earth.

Orjan Gustafsson of Stockholm University in Sweden, one of the leaders of the expedition, described the scale of the methane emissions in an email exchange sent from the Russian research ship Jacob Smirnitskyi.

"We had a hectic finishing of the sampling programme yesterday and this past night," said Dr Gustafsson. "An extensive area of intense methane release was found. At earlier sites we had found elevated levels of dissolved methane. Yesterday, for the first time, we documented a field where the release was so intense that the methane did not have time to dissolve into the seawater but was rising as methane bubbles to the sea surface. These 'methane chimneys' were documented on echo sounder and with seismic [instruments]."

At some locations, methane concentrations reached 100 times background levels. These anomalies have been seen in the East Siberian Sea and the Laptev Sea, covering several tens of thousands of square kilometres, amounting to millions of tons of methane, said Dr Gustafsson. "This may be of the same magnitude as presently estimated from the global ocean," he said. "Nobody knows how many more such areas exist on the extensive East Siberian continental shelves.

"The conventional thought has been that the permafrost 'lid' on the sub-sea sediments on the Siberian shelf should cap and hold the massive reservoirs of shallow methane deposits in place. The growing evidence for release of methane in this inaccessible region may suggest that the permafrost lid is starting to get perforated and thus leak methane... The permafrost now has small holes. We have found elevated levels of methane above the water surface and even more in the water just below. It is obvious that the source is the seabed."

The preliminary findings of the International Siberian Shelf Study 2008, being prepared for publication by the American Geophysical Union, are being overseen by Igor Semiletov of the Far-Eastern branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Since 1994, he has led about 10 expeditions in the Laptev Sea but during the 1990s he did not detect any elevated levels of methane. However, since 2003 he reported a rising number of methane "hotspots", which have now been confirmed using more sensitive instruments on board the Jacob Smirnitskyi.

Dr Semiletov has suggested several possible reasons why methane is now being released from the Arctic, including the rising volume of relatively warmer water being discharged from Siberia's rivers due to the melting of the permafrost on the land.

The Arctic region as a whole has seen a 4C rise in average temperatures over recent decades and a dramatic decline in the area of the Arctic Ocean covered by summer sea ice. Many scientists fear that the loss of sea ice could accelerate the warming trend because open ocean soaks up more heat from the sun than the reflective surface of an ice-covered sea.

www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/exclusive-the-methane-time-bomb-938932.html

For FN's resource page on this issue, see:
Mounting Evidence of Extreme Global Warming


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