Change trend of natural gas hydrates in permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (1960–2050) under the background of global warming and their impacts on carbon emissions
Global warming and the response to it have become a topic of concern in today’s society and are also a research focus in the global scientific community. As the world’s third pole, the global warming amplifier, and the starting region of China’s climate change, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is extremely...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
2022-07-01
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| Series: | China Geology |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2096519222001719 |
| _version_ | 1811170523978137600 |
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| author | Zhen-quan Lu Chu-guo Wu Neng-you Wu Hai-long Lu Ting Wang Rui Xiao Hui Liu Xin-he Wu |
| author_facet | Zhen-quan Lu Chu-guo Wu Neng-you Wu Hai-long Lu Ting Wang Rui Xiao Hui Liu Xin-he Wu |
| author_sort | Zhen-quan Lu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Global warming and the response to it have become a topic of concern in today’s society and are also a research focus in the global scientific community. As the world’s third pole, the global warming amplifier, and the starting region of China’s climate change, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is extremely sensitive to climate change. The permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is rich in natural gas hydrates (NGHs) resources. Under the background of global warming, whether the NGHs will be disassociated and enter the atmosphere as the air temperature rises has become a major concern of both the public and the scientific community. Given this, this study reviewed the trend of global warming and accordingly summarized the characteristics of the temperature increase in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Based on this as well as the distribution characteristics of the NGHs in the permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, this study investigated the changes in the response of the NGHs to global warming, aiming to clarify the impacts of global warming on the NGHs in the permafrost of the plateau. A noticeable response to global warming has been observed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Over the past decades, the increase in the mean annual air temperature of the plateau was increasingly high and more recently. Specifically, the mean annual air temperature of the plateau changed at a rate of approximately 0.308–0.420°C/10a and increased by approximately 1.54–2.10°C in the past decades. Moreover, the annual mean ground temperature of the shallow permafrost on the plateau increased by approximately 1.155–1.575°C and the permafrost area decreased by approximately 0.34×106 km2 from about 1.4×106 km2 to 1.06×106 km2 in the past decades. As indicated by simulated calculation results, the thickness of the NGH-bearing permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has decreased by 29–39 m in the past 50 years, with the equivalent of (1.69 – 2.27)×1010–(1.12–1.51)×1012 m3 of methane (CH4) being released due to NGHs dissociation. It is predicted that the thickness of the NGH-bearing permafrost will decrease by 23 m and 27 m, and dissociated and released NGHs will be the equivalent of (1.34–88.8)×1010 m3 and (1.57–104)×1010 m3 of CH4, respectively by 2030 and 2050. Considering the positive feedback mechanism of NGHs on global warming and the fact that CH4 has a higher greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide, the NGHs in the permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau will emit more CH4 into the atmosphere, which is an important trend of NGHs under the background of global warming. Therefore, the NGHs are destructive as a time bomb and may lead to a waste of efforts that mankind has made in carbon emission reduction and carbon neutrality. Accordingly, this study suggests that human beings should make more efforts to conduct the exploration and exploitation of the NGHs in the permafrost of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, accelerate research on the techniques and equipment for NGHs extraction, storage, and transportation, and exploit the permafrost-associated NGHs while thawing them. The purpose is to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere and mitigate the atmospheric greenhouse effect, thus contributing to the global goal of peak carbon dioxide emissions and carbon neutrality.©2022 China Geology Editorial Office. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T16:58:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-eec73a23370e42d9b7230c575f0cefda |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2096-5192 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T16:58:01Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | China Geology |
| spelling | doaj.art-eec73a23370e42d9b7230c575f0cefda2023-02-07T04:22:58ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.China Geology2096-51922022-07-0153475509Change trend of natural gas hydrates in permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (1960–2050) under the background of global warming and their impacts on carbon emissionsZhen-quan Lu0Chu-guo Wu1Neng-you Wu2Hai-long Lu3Ting Wang4Rui Xiao5Hui Liu6Xin-he Wu7Oil and Gas Survey, China Geological Survey, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beijing 100083, China; Corresponding author: E-mail address: luzhq@vip.sina.com (Zhen-quan Lu).Information Center, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beijing 100036, ChinaQingdao Institute of Marine Geology, China Geological Survey, Qingdao 266237, ChinaSchool of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, ChinaOil and Gas Survey, China Geological Survey, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beijing 100083, ChinaOil and Gas Survey, China Geological Survey, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beijing 100083, ChinaOil and Gas Survey, China Geological Survey, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beijing 100083, ChinaOil and Gas Survey, China Geological Survey, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beijing 100083, ChinaGlobal warming and the response to it have become a topic of concern in today’s society and are also a research focus in the global scientific community. As the world’s third pole, the global warming amplifier, and the starting region of China’s climate change, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is extremely sensitive to climate change. The permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is rich in natural gas hydrates (NGHs) resources. Under the background of global warming, whether the NGHs will be disassociated and enter the atmosphere as the air temperature rises has become a major concern of both the public and the scientific community. Given this, this study reviewed the trend of global warming and accordingly summarized the characteristics of the temperature increase in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Based on this as well as the distribution characteristics of the NGHs in the permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, this study investigated the changes in the response of the NGHs to global warming, aiming to clarify the impacts of global warming on the NGHs in the permafrost of the plateau. A noticeable response to global warming has been observed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Over the past decades, the increase in the mean annual air temperature of the plateau was increasingly high and more recently. Specifically, the mean annual air temperature of the plateau changed at a rate of approximately 0.308–0.420°C/10a and increased by approximately 1.54–2.10°C in the past decades. Moreover, the annual mean ground temperature of the shallow permafrost on the plateau increased by approximately 1.155–1.575°C and the permafrost area decreased by approximately 0.34×106 km2 from about 1.4×106 km2 to 1.06×106 km2 in the past decades. As indicated by simulated calculation results, the thickness of the NGH-bearing permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has decreased by 29–39 m in the past 50 years, with the equivalent of (1.69 – 2.27)×1010–(1.12–1.51)×1012 m3 of methane (CH4) being released due to NGHs dissociation. It is predicted that the thickness of the NGH-bearing permafrost will decrease by 23 m and 27 m, and dissociated and released NGHs will be the equivalent of (1.34–88.8)×1010 m3 and (1.57–104)×1010 m3 of CH4, respectively by 2030 and 2050. Considering the positive feedback mechanism of NGHs on global warming and the fact that CH4 has a higher greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide, the NGHs in the permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau will emit more CH4 into the atmosphere, which is an important trend of NGHs under the background of global warming. Therefore, the NGHs are destructive as a time bomb and may lead to a waste of efforts that mankind has made in carbon emission reduction and carbon neutrality. Accordingly, this study suggests that human beings should make more efforts to conduct the exploration and exploitation of the NGHs in the permafrost of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, accelerate research on the techniques and equipment for NGHs extraction, storage, and transportation, and exploit the permafrost-associated NGHs while thawing them. The purpose is to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere and mitigate the atmospheric greenhouse effect, thus contributing to the global goal of peak carbon dioxide emissions and carbon neutrality.©2022 China Geology Editorial Office.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2096519222001719Climate changeGlobal warmingPermafrostGas hydrateGreenhouse effectCarbon emission |
| spellingShingle | Zhen-quan Lu Chu-guo Wu Neng-you Wu Hai-long Lu Ting Wang Rui Xiao Hui Liu Xin-he Wu Change trend of natural gas hydrates in permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (1960–2050) under the background of global warming and their impacts on carbon emissions China Geology Climate change Global warming Permafrost Gas hydrate Greenhouse effect Carbon emission |
| title | Change trend of natural gas hydrates in permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (1960–2050) under the background of global warming and their impacts on carbon emissions |
| title_full | Change trend of natural gas hydrates in permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (1960–2050) under the background of global warming and their impacts on carbon emissions |
| title_fullStr | Change trend of natural gas hydrates in permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (1960–2050) under the background of global warming and their impacts on carbon emissions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Change trend of natural gas hydrates in permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (1960–2050) under the background of global warming and their impacts on carbon emissions |
| title_short | Change trend of natural gas hydrates in permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (1960–2050) under the background of global warming and their impacts on carbon emissions |
| title_sort | change trend of natural gas hydrates in permafrost on the qinghai tibet plateau 1960 2050 under the background of global warming and their impacts on carbon emissions |
| topic | Climate change Global warming Permafrost Gas hydrate Greenhouse effect Carbon emission |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2096519222001719 |
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