Djprice537: I call dibs on producing There Will Be Blood 2

I know nothing and thus have no opinion about the Barrow methane readings. That said these papers are frightening: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2389.2010.01312.x/abstract;jsessionid=45BD4CE6C612BE5D2D583ABF5869C2C9.d03t04 http://rspa.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/467/2129/1243 Basically they suppose localized permafrost decomposition can create pockets of methane that cause a subsurface chain reaction when the pocket pressure is enough to break through its container. This can then occur fractally and the total potential is a function of the rate of temperature increase. The second paper likens it to an action potential in which there is a quiescent period where build up is undetected but a critical rate point in which it is all simultaneously released. Maybe you guys are already all over this theory, but I haven't seen it explicitly talked about much around the internet. The common perception seems to be that methane could be a huge problem and we may pass a "tipping point" in which we can't turn back the climate so the methane release will inexorably increase; but if these theories are right then we would see little increase followed by a mind boggling explosion.