Methane levels remain very high around the globe

The image below shows methane levels over 1950 in yellow for both hemispheres, on the morning of August 8, 2013.

[ click on image to enlarge ]

The highest peak recorded was 2428 ppb at 367 mb. The highest mean was 1822 ppb at 469 mb. See also the image below for an overview of recent methane levels.

for interactive version, see http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2013/08/methane-levels-keep-rising-rapidly.html

The situation is very worrying, especially since there’s a huge amount of methane in the northern part of Asia and Europe, much of it bordering on the Arctic. This methane will trap a lot of heat there at a time when the melting season is still going strong.

On the Southern Hemisphere, there’s a huge amount of methane recorded over Antarctica. That has been going on for quite some time, but the high levels of methane over the oceans on the Southern Hemisphere have only shown up recently. They could be caused by one or more methane hydrates getting destabilized in the ocean between Antarctica and South America.