A 1km methane leak accounts as 1/510000000
The Earth surface area is 510 million km^2
Assuming there are at least 1000 leaks, and all are about 1km square. That would be 0.0002% of surface area.
Considering the Earths atmosphere 4,200,000,000 cubic km. It would take decades to make the atmosphere explosive.
Rest easy people, this is a non-doom issue atm.
However, should the oceans encounter a globally universal environment where the methane build up is released simultaneously......well, then were in trouble.
Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1405546 UUhh..wait..METHANE..PLUS ...H.A.A.R.P...?
====F---ING BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
3 MILLION GIGAWATTS PER HOUR BEAMED INTO IONOSPHERE?
How is the Ionosphere Formed?
At the outer reaches of the Earth's environment, solar radiation strikes the atmosphere with a power density of 1370 Watts per meter2 or 0.137 Watts per cm2, a value known as the "solar constant." This intense level of radiation is spread over a broad spectrum ranging from radio frequencies through infrared (IR) radiation and visible light to X-rays. Solar radiation at ultraviolet (UV) and shorter wavelengths is considered to be "ionizing" since photons of energy at these frequencies are capable of dislodging an electron from a neutral gas atom or molecule during a collision.
Fountains' of methane 1,000m across erupt from Arctic ice - a greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide
'Methane fields on a scale not seen before' - researcher
More than 100 fountains, but could be 'thousands'
Could cause rapid climate change...