Four Corners is a methane hot spot...
One small "hot spot" in the U.S. Southwest is responsible for producing the largest concentration of the greenhouse gas methane seen over the United States – more than triple the standard ground-based estimate -- according to a new study of satellite data by scientists at NASA and the University of Michigan.
(http://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2014/10/09/splash8.jpg)
The Four Corners area (red) is the major U.S. hot spot for methane emissions in this map showing how much emissions varied from average background concentrations from 2003-2009 (dark colors are lower than average; lighter colors are higher). Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Michigan
The study's lead author, Eric Kort of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, noted the study period predates the widespread use of hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, near the hot spot. This indicates the methane emissions should not be attributed to fracking but instead to leaks in natural gas production and processing equipment in New Mexico's San Juan Basin, which is the most active coalbed methane production area in the country.
Maybe it's the huge underground alien city that is there??? :)
Cosmo
QuoteThe Four Corners region of the southwestern U.S.– where Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico meet — is one of the most ruggedly scenic locales you could imagine.
But Four Corners has another, more puzzling distinction. As a 2014 study of data from a European satellite by NASA and University of Michigan researchers revealed, a 2,500-square mile area near the intersection produces the nation's biggest concentration of methane, a greenhouse gas that's many times more potent than carbon dioxide, and a significant contributor to global warming.
Now, as scientists launch a team effort to figure out the cause for the massive methane plume, another more troubling question arises. Is the hotspot an anomaly, or an indication that previous measurements have underestimated the amount of methane that's being released into the atmosphere?
Huge Methane Leak in Arctic Detected
If the latter is true, it could have disturbing implications for the struggle against climate change.
Nobody knows yet why Four Corners is giving off so much methane — an amount equivalent to almost 15 million tons of carbon dioxide, or the equivalent of adding 3.1 million cars to the road every year, according to ThinkProgress.
For much of the 2003-2009 period in the satellite study, the area didn't have a lot of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for oil and gas, a process that some are concerned is a source of methane emissions. But Four Corners is a major coal mining area, and a source of coal-bed methane, which supplies about 8 percent of the nation's natural gas.
The plume discovered over Four Corners, raises the possibility that large amounts of methane are escaping from the mines — a problem that hasn't been factored into the equation before.
There's also the possibility, as ThinkProgress notes, that we've simply been underestimating the amount of methane that human activities are releasing, and that there are other large, yet-undiscovered plumes elsewhere on the planet.
A 2014 review of study data concluded that actual U.S. methane emissions are about 61 percent higher than government estimates.
So.....you're saying it isn't a giant alien base with lots of flatulence going on? :o
Has this ever happened to you?
(http://philly.barstoolsports.com/files/2014/01/fart.jpg)
Cosmo
Yes maybe an underground alien base or the Hopi gods like methane!
QuoteThose who stay and live in the places of my people also shall be safe. Then there will be much to rebuild. And soon -- very soon afterward -- Pahana will return. He shall bring with him the dawn of the Fifth World. He shall plant the seeds of his wisdom in their hearts. Even now the seeds are being planted. These shall smooth the way to the Emergence into the Fifth World.
http://www.welcomehome.org/rainbow/prophecy/hopi1.html
(http://www.pkwy.k12.mo.us/west/teachers/boles/student_work/west_webfall09/kelsey/baslerhopi-map.gif)
http://www.pkwy.k12.mo.us/west/teachers/boles/student_work/west_webfall09/kelsey/KelseyB.htm
Quote from: COSMO on April 15, 2015, 06:25:18 PM
So.....you're saying it isn't a giant alien base with lots of flatulence going on? :o
Has this ever happened to you?
(http://philly.barstoolsports.com/files/2014/01/fart.jpg)
Cosmo
I would say you took the words right out of my mouth, , butt in this I should just say you took the gass right out of my uhmmmmmm back side. ;D
Underground nuclear tests might have loosened some gas. The right place? And no more fanny belch jokes. :P
I'd like to ass you a few questions....
https://youtu.be/2Icd5PgqpfY
sorry...couldn't help myself
Cosmo