SAEDNEWS: Did you know how the frozen bubbles captured in NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day are formed? They come from methane gas released from the lakebed! In winter, methane bubbles get trapped beneath the frozen surface of the lake, freeze, and create these breathtaking natural patterns.
According to the Science Service of Saed News, the wintery region seen in NASA’s “Image of the Day” is Lake Baikal in southern Siberia. This lake, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is the largest in the world by volume, as well as the oldest and deepest, containing over 20% of the planet’s freshwater.
Baikal is also a massive reservoir of methane—a greenhouse gas that, if released, could increase the absorption of infrared radiation in the Earth’s atmosphere, trapping heat and warming our planet.
Fortunately, the amount of methane currently leaking from the lake does not have a significant climate impact. However, it is unclear what consequences a substantial temperature rise in the region or a decrease in Lake Baikal’s water level might have.
Carbon dioxide is typically recognized as the primary driver of global warming, and among greenhouse gases, methane plays the second-largest role in climate change and warming.
Studies indicate that while atmospheric methane concentrations are lower than those of carbon dioxide, methane has over 80 times the short-term warming potential of CO₂. In other words, each methane molecule can trap more heat in the atmosphere than a carbon dioxide molecule.
Additionally, methane has a shorter lifespan than CO₂ (about a decade) and breaks down through chemical reactions in the atmosphere into carbon dioxide and water vapor. Therefore, methane contributes not only directly to global warming but also indirectly by releasing CO₂.
Research shows that geological sources contribute very little to methane emissions. In contrast, human activities—such as agriculture and livestock farming, waste disposal, and fossil fuel extraction (the primary source)—account for the largest share of this greenhouse gas.
