Scientists
 from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks in the USA have reported 
that the shallow undersea permafrost in Siberia, which until recent 
years was stable, is now noted as releasing significant amounts of 
methane, even more than the record highs from Summer 2008. 
According
 to lead scientist Professor Igor Semiletov, who is also head of the 
International Siberian Shelf Study (ISSS), the region is experiencing 
the fastest temperature rise of the planet. 
Springtime air is 
currently measured at an average of 4 degrees Celsius higher than in the
 last three decades of the  20th century. Sudden releases of methane gas
 are linked to runaway global warming and are considered a factor in the
 past mass extinction of species. 
The Alaskan researchers state 
that if the current warming conditions continue, the melting of 
underwater Siberian permafrost would release catastrophic amounts of 
methane. 
Dr. Sergey Kirpotin – Tomsk University (Quote in Russian):
 As more permafrost melts, more greenhouse gases are released into the 
atmosphere. It is absolutely evident. We could be uncertain in 
quantitative terms, but the fact that this process has a global 
character, global importance and global scale is absolutely evident.
Vladimir Chuprov – Greenpeace Russia Representative (Quote in Russian):It
 is essential to come up with a new international agreement that could 
guarantee the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions – the causes of the 
global climate change. 
Only then could we slow down these 
negative processes that take place also in the Russian Arctic. Professor
 Semiletov and University of Alaska colleagues, we appreciate this 
clarion call about the dire signals being conveyed by our Earth. 
May
 we all deeply realize the grave nature of climate change and act now to
 protect our shared planetary home. As on many occasions, Supreme Master
 Ching Hai explained during an October 2009 videoconference in Hong Kong
 the urgent situation of methane gas release, while offering the surest 
solution.
Supreme Master Ching Hai:
 There are massive quantities of gases, poisonous and explosive, such as
 under the permafrost. The gas released then causes more warming, which 
causes even more gas to be released. This is like a vicious circle. They
 even call this vicious feedback cycle a so-called “climate time bomb.” 
We are running out of time, we must wake up soon; we must make a small 
sacrifice and changes. 
I am hopeful. I’m having a positive 
feeling that it won’t happen to Earth, but we all must work; we cannot 
sit there and wait for a miracle to happen. God needs us to represent 
Hirm in compassion, in merciful heart, in the way we live a godly life, 
befitting  God’s children. If we all become vegan and live a virtuous, 
compassionate life, it won’t happen.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8437703.stm