What I find most disconcerting is this paragraph, quoted from above:
Quote:

But there is a darker side to methane ices, which also have formed in the Arctic tundra and are held deep in the permafrost. As global temperatures continue to rise, permafrost is melting. The amount of frozen methane deposits thawing will increase. Methane, which is ten times more efficient as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, will cause the temperature to increase more, raising sea levels and ocean temperatures, in turn releasing more methane. The oceanic methane theoretically will remain stable as the oceans get deeper and sea floor pressures increase. But, if the oceans warm, and they are already warming (though at a slower rate than the atmosphere) a critical point could be passed and large releases of methane gas from the continental slope deposits could occur, adding much more greenhouse-enhancing methane to the atmosphere. Climate change would surge ahead.



We don't know if we will ever be able to use this resource for energy because of the complications of extracting the methane safely and efficiently. But warming climate will release it from thawing tundra and perhaps from marine deposits, which can lock the globe into a rapidly increasing warming. It may also set in motion cooling of some parts of the globe. Right now Europe benefits from the moderating influence of the Gulf Stream. Melting of the Arctic ice sheet may disrupt global currents, actually leaving Europe colder.