PrintJanuary 16, 2009
Martian Methane Suggest Solar-Induced Global Warming
A team of scientists studying the planet Mars have announced the discovery of methane in the Martian atmosphere.
A group associated with NASA`s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, using NASA`s Infrared Telescope Facility at Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii discovered plumes of methane in the Martian atmosphere over several seasons of observations. Methane is a gas normally produced by biological or volcanic processes-something not believed possible on Mars, which is considered both biologically and geologically dead.
According to NASA`s release:
"We observed and mapped multiple plumes of methane on Mars, one of which released about 19,000 metric tons of methane," says Geronimo Villanueva of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Villanueva is stationed at NASA Goddard and is co-author of the paper. "The plumes were emitted during the warmer seasons -- spring and summer -- perhaps because the permafrost blocking cracks and fissures vaporized, allowing methane to seep into the Martian air. Curiously, some plumes had water vapor while others did not," he says.
Interesting; ultraviolet breaks down methane in the thin (7-11 millibar-about 1% the density of Earth`s) Martian atmosphere, so this methane has been emitted relatively recently.
According to the NASA article:
"Methane is quickly destroyed in the Martian atmosphere in a variety of ways, so our discovery of substantial plumes of methane in the northern hemisphere of Mars in 2003 indicates some ongoing process is releasing the gas," says lead author Michael Mumma of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "At northern mid-summer, methane is released at a rate comparable to that of the massive hydrocarbon seep at Coal Oil Point in Santa Barbara, Calif."`
Yet there is no indication of life on Mars, at least none at the surface. On Earth, microbes produce methane as a waste product. Now, there was much debate about ancient Martian fossils being found in a meteorite that was ejected from the Red Planet and found it`s way to Antarctica. There was also a good deal of dispute over the conclusions that what scientists found was actually Martian life. It is possible that life exists beneath the surface of the planet, but we have yet to find any evidence outside of these methane plumes. It is as likely to be a result of geological processes, but that means that Mars is not geologically dead as has been believed but has some active volcanism.
But does it? Mars has been warming for some time, and, just as we are told by the global warming alarmists that a warming Earth will result in the release of methane trapped in polar permafrost, so too it seems likely that methane produced via geological activity in the past could be released into the Martian atmosphere.
In fact, the article states:
"However, it is possible a geologic process produced the Martian methane, either now or eons ago. On Earth, the conversion of iron oxide (rust) into the serpentine group of minerals creates methane, and on Mars this process could proceed using water, carbon dioxide, and the planet's internal heat. Another possibility is vulcanism: Although there is no evidence of currently active Martian volcanoes, ancient methane trapped in ice "cages" called clathrates might now be released."
So, what we may be seeing is evidence that the Sun is driving global warming-and the release of a greenhouse gas. Unless Dick Cheney has secretely commissioned to have SUV`s moved en-masse to Mars and fitted with special equipment to allow them to run in the thin Martian air, this warming-and the subsequent release of methane (much like the release last year of methane on Earth in BOTH hemispheres contrary to most anthropogenic models) is being driven by the Sun.
If Martian global warming and the release of methane is driven by solar activity rather than human industrial emissions, doesn`t this argue for similar effects on the Earth, which is much closer to the sun than Mars, after all? Do we take make the enormous investments to reduce our industrial emissions if the cause of the Earth`s warming is outside of our control? But then, we wouldn`t need a worldwide socialist system, now would we!
