In this second episode of the methane miniseries, I speak to Professor Orjan Gustafsson from Stockholm University about his team’s ongoing collaboration with the Russian research team, led by Professor Igor Semiletov, investigating the Siberian Arctic.
Orjan has published over 80 research papers jointly with his Russian colleagues on their findings in the Russian Arctic over the course of more than a decade. In this episode, he highlights why understanding this region is among one of the most important research areas in climate change today.
Despite the complexity of geopolitics that often infects peoples thinking in dealing with Russia, the opportunities for scientific collaboration in pursuit of critical knowledge can, in the long run, prove more beneficial than any short term political aims.
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CONTENTS:
Interview contents by Timestamp[min:sec]|Subject
00:00 Overview of research programme looking at how carbon feedback processes work.
03:50 Degradation of subsea permafrost.
07:00 Different sources of methane.
09:00 Subsea permafrost not a risk?
11:30 Quantity of thermogenic methane.
13:30 Why this matters for policy.
14:40 Defining megaseeps.
17:00 Extrapolating estimates of megaseeps.
18:38 Is there a known countervailing force?
20:30 Is policy and rate of research in the area sufficient?
21:00 Is the Russian Presidency of the Arctic Council good for research?
21:50 Why what is happening in Siberia should be considered top scientific priority.
23:45 Slope hydrate vulnerability due to Atlantification of Arctic (warm inflow of water).
26:35 Russian Presidency a good opportunity for collaboration.
26:58 Research to be published in 2021.
27:38 New open access database live – CircumArctic Shelf Carbon database, “CASCADE”.
30:45 Science as diplomacy.
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“The inventories are quite substantial” – true that.
Nick- your work is so important☮️
Thank you for this interview…
It is insane that extremely critical thing for existance of our own civilization has almost no proper attention…
Super Interview Nick with Oerjan Gustafsson. Your followers appreciate the substantive nature of this Interview, and, at least for me, I have come to understand what a real Gift and Talent you have for interviewing climate scientists, while never missing a beat in your own cognition and understanding of our historical situation. Much appreciate, the both of you. Thank you!
Great interview, thanks Örjan and Nick!
Thank you Nick and Prof Örjan Gustafsson, This is a great continuation of the thread of conversation on the channel about Arctic methane, permafrost, hydrates and getting key information out to the public. Few think about the relationship of the carbon budgets and the reduction in those budgets as further methane is added to the atmosphere. Of course the truly precautionary approach is to maintain there is no carbon budget left, which is how our governments should be thinking and acting.
@Nick Breeze It can’t when the systems we live within require continued consumption well beyond the limits of the planet.
However, the ability of regenerative systems to sequester carbon, and more importantly, massively reduce emissions, is a combination of not understood, not believed and ignored. We can literally return to 260-280ppm in time frames that might limit cryosphere collapse – if we wished.
But people will not listen.
Thank you for continuing the conversation, keep up the good work! Understanding arctic carbon sources is key to understanding our future!
Methane seems to be considered harmless by the public.