Arctic lakes producing methane could have been responsible for 87 percent of the methane spike in the last ice age, said UAF researcher Katey Walter, lead author of a report printed in the October 26^th issue of Science.

“It tells us that this isn’t just something that is ongoing now. It would have been a positive feedback to climate warming then, as it is today,” said Walter. “We estimate that as much as 10 times the amount of methane that is currently in the atmosphere will come out of these lakes as permafrost thaws in the future. The timing of this emission is uncertain, but likely we are talking about a time frame of hundreds to thousands of years, if climate warming continues as projected.” more »