Things Are Getting Worse – And No, It’s Not The Rona

Life, as we know, is succumbing to not just a plague but a plague of ignorance we’re all guilty of.

Languishing at the bottom of newspaper headlines is the recollection that something deeply disturbing is becoming. The norm of arguing over facemasks and the plight of lockdown remains a focal point in the sphere of a social construct.

Our choice to be relevant is overshadowing our very existence, and the needs of billions have become a simple ignorance. Blissfully unaware of the notion that climate breakdown is upon us, there is a terrifying reality that has procreated under the radar.

Gargantuan pockets of methane are now being released into the atmosphere capable of trapping more heat than ever before. An international collaboration between Swedish and Russian researchers have found that methane release is as much as eight times the normal rate as expected, and though there is no immediate threat, the process has initiated spelling trouble for the future.

Örjan Gustafsson, of Stockholm University, said: “At this moment, there is unlikely to be any major impact on global warming, but the point is that this process has now been triggered. This East Siberian slope methane hydrate system has been perturbed and the process will be ongoing”

Methane is a destructive gas, accounting for 84 times the potency of carbon. The unfortunate thing is that carbon release has triggered rapid melting of permafrost across the world and what we do here has a profound effect on other parts of it.

There is hope though. We can steer our trajectory away from danger by changing up our individual lifestyles to influence systemic marketing and product make up. Already companies including Apple have ceased inclusion of chargers and headphones to make their boxes smaller and lighter for shipping, thus, reducing emissions.

The Arctic Ice Project has developed a technology to reflect heat away from the ice sheets which has shown great promise. BP and others have begun development of carbon capture technologies, though, given their track record, this is the reason we must continue to fight on smaller grounds to ensure pennies make up pounds.