Open AccessModeling the climate response to a massive methane release from gas hydrates
Author(s) -
Renssen H.,
Beets C. J.,
Fichefet T.,
Goosse H.,
Kroon D.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
paleoceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1944-9186
pISSN - 0883-8305
DOI - 10.1029/2003pa000968
Subject(s) - methane , atmospheric methane , atmosphere (unit) , climatology , forcing (mathematics) , atmospheric sciences , clathrate hydrate , carbon dioxide in earth's atmosphere , carbon dioxide , climate state , geology , environmental science , climate model , global warming , latitude , carbon cycle , radiative forcing , greenhouse gas , climate change , oceanography , hydrate , meteorology , effects of global warming , chemistry , ecology , physics , organic chemistry , geodesy , ecosystem , biology
The climate response to a massive release of methane from gas hydrates is simulated in two 2500‐year‐long numerical experiments performed with a three‐dimensional, global coupled atmosphere‐sea ice‐ocean model of intermediate complexity. Two different equilibrium states were used as reference climates; the first state with preindustrial forcing conditions and the second state with a four times higher atmospheric CO 2 concentration. These climates were perturbed by prescribing a methane emission scenario equivalent to that computed for the Paleocene/Eocene thermal maximum (PETM; ∼55.5 Ma), involving a sudden release of 1500 Gt of carbon into the atmosphere in 1000 years. In both cases, this produced rapid atmospheric warming (up to 10°C at high latitudes) and a reorganization of the global overturning ocean circulation. In the ocean, maximum warming (2–4°C) occurred at intermediate depths where methane hydrates are stored in the upper slope sediments, suggesting that further hydrate instability could result from the prescribed scenario.