Confirmation of a leak would jeopardize the multi-billion-dollar effort by governments and corporations to reduce greenhouse - gas emissions by storing them deep underground in depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs and salt caverns. (canadianbusiness.com)
Under the ice, methane gas from deeper hydrocarbon reservoirs moved upward, but could not escape. (sciencedaily.com)
The magnitude and timing of this emission scenario is unconstrained due to large uncertainties in estimating future rates of cryosphere degradation, hydrocarbon reservoir response, and potential methane oxidation. (realclimate.org)