Global Scale Consequences of Biological Methane Production
The potential for release of large quantities of biogenic methane to the Earth’s surface biosphere and atmosphere is the primary means by which this gas could exert an effect that would be global in scale. A considerable amount of methane is produced from
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Global Consequences of the Consumption and Production of Hydrocarbons
50 Global Scale Consequences of Biological Methane Production F. S. Colwell1,* . W. Ussler III2 College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA *[email protected] 2 Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA
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1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3056 2 Sources of Biogenic Methane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3058 3 History of Biological Methane Production/Release on a Global Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3059 4 Biological and Abiological Sinks for Methane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3061 5 Research Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3062
K. N. Timmis (ed.), Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology, DOI 10.1007/978-3-540-77587-4_228, # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2010
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Global Scale Consequences of Biological Methane Production
Abstract: The potential for release of large quantities of biogenic methane to the Earth’s surface biosphere and atmosphere is the primary means by which this gas could exert an effect that would be global in scale. A considerable amount of methane is produced from biological processes that are directly linked to human activities (e.g., rearing of ruminant livestock, cultivation of rice). Also, the release of biogenic methane due to warming of hydrates in continental and arctic shelf sediments could cause sediment slumps, sustain a biologicallyinduced anoxia in the overlying water column, and if it enters the atmosphere, cause increased radiative heating of the atmosphere. Under normal conditions, the release of this methane to the surface biosphere occurs slowly enough that microbes oxidize the methane keeping seawater concentrations low. The time scale over which large releases of biogenic methane might occur is speculative and no such events have been directly observed. Nevertheless, the geologic record indicates that methane release from marine sediments probably occurred in the distant past and the current trend towards a warmer Earth may influence the disposition of this methane in the future. Thus, in the biosphere it is the rate of change in methane production and the ability of microorganisms to respond and oxidize the methane that determine whether there are detrimental effects on a large scale. Because of current concerns related to rapid changes in global climate we need a deeper understanding of the role of microbes that mediate the production and consumption of biogenic methane on Earth.
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Introduction
Microbial production of methane represents a substantial portion of methane emissions to the atmosphere. Over 84% of methane emitted to the atmosphe
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