It appears that methane is leaking from the arctic permafrost at rapidly accelerating rates, and methane is a significant contributor to the greenhouse effect.

Of course, it also includes one of my pet peeves:

The discovery follows a string of reports from the region in recent years that previously frozen boggy soils are melting and releasing methane in greater quantities. Such Arctic soils currently lock away billions of tonnes of methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, leading some scientists to describe melting permafrost as a ticking time bomb that could overwhelm efforts to tackle climate change.

(emphasis mine)

Frequently, you have people saying that methane is 20 times more effective at trapping greenhouse gasses than CO², and while technically true, it leaves out an important fact, that methane’s persistence is far less than that of CO₂.

Methane, CH₄, has a molecular weight of 16, far less than that of the atmosphere, roughly 30, so it tends to migrate towards the upper atmosphere, where ultra-violet light breaks it down.

Here is the equation:

CH₄ + 2O₂ ⇒ CO₂ +2H₂O

Methane’s persistence is far less than CO₂, on the order of a 1-2 decades, as opposed to the centuries for a CO₂ molecule, which needs to go through the Byzantinely complex biochemistry that is photosynthesis.

So, basically, methane is something on the order of 10% worse, a short period in which that carbon atom part of a methane molecule, followed by a longer period in which it is CO₂.

Global warming is real, and methane is an issue, though it is one roughly the same as CO₂. There really isn’t a need to go all “20 times” (2^nd link) do describe the issue. It is imprecise and disingenuous.

Our planet is going to hell in a hand-basket in either case.