1198479
submission
JPMH writes
"A Swedish-Russian expedition in the Arctic ocean has observed "chimneys" of methane rising from holes in the permafrost lid which covers the seabed. (See also translations from the expedition blog here and here). Methane is a greenhouse gas twenty times more effective than CO2, and runaway methane hydrate breakdown has sometimes been connected with the Permian-Triassic mass-extinction event 251 million years ago.If the Siberian permafrost-seal thaws completely, a release of 10% of the methane hydrates in Siberia would be enough to increase the methane content of the planet's atmosphere by a factor of twelve. So far, the undersea melting has been concentrated where greatly increased volumes of meltwater have been discharged from Siberian rivers flowing north, releasing methane and methane hydrates trapped on the seabed under an ice layer. The observations tally with increasing numbers of methane hotspots that have appeared since 2003, which are now estimated to match the total organic methane release from the whole of the rest of the world's oceans combined."
1198169
submission
JPMH writes
"A Swedish-Russian expedition in the Arctic ocean has observed "chimneys" of methane rising from holes in the permafrost lid which covers the seabed. The undersea melting appears to be concentrated where greatly increased volumes of meltwater have been discharged from Siberian rivers flowing north, releasing methane and methane hydrates trapped on the seabed under an ice layer. The observations tally with increasing numbers of methane hotspots that have appeared since 2003, which are now estimated to match the total organic methane release from the whole of the rest of the world's oceans combined. (See also translations from the expedition blog here and here). If the Siberian permafrost-seal thaws completely, a release of 10% of the methane hydrates in Siberia would be enough to increase the methane content of the planet's atmosphere by a factor of twelve. Methane is a greenhouse gas twenty times more effective than CO2, and runaway methane hydrate breakdown has sometimes been connected with the Permian-Triassic mass-extinction event 251 million years ago."
240153
submission
JPMH writes
"A formal Federal Trade Commission complaint has been filed by the Computer & Communications Industry Association — a group which includes Google, Microsoft, and Red Hat, among others. According to Ars Technica's report, "the CCIA's complaint fingers the NFL, Major League Baseball, NBC Universal, Morgan Creek, DreamWorks, Harcourt Inc., and Penguin Group (USA) for deceptive trade practices, accusing them of systematically misrepresenting the rights of consumers to use copyrighted material. 'These warnings that we have been seeing for decades are false,' CCIA spokesperson Jake Ward told Ars Technica in a Monday interview. 'They are a misrepresentation of the law and a violation of consumers' rights.'""
95418
submission
JPMH writes
"With the largest density of CCTV cameras in the world, and an increasing network of automatic number-plate recognition cameras on main roads, Britain has long been a pioneer for the surveillance society. Now new official figures reveal that UK agencies monitored 439,000 telephones and email addresses in a 15 month period between 2005 and 2006. The Interception of Communications Commissioner is seeking the right for agencies to be allowed to monitor the communications of Members of Parliament as well, something which has been forbidden since the 1960s. It must be that it is bringing their numbers down: on the law of averages they should be monitoring at least 5 of the MPs."
