Photo: Methane Bubbling Up From Undersea Permafrost?

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From June 15 (top) to July 27 (bottom), sea ice in the East Siberian Sea declined by as much as 81,081 square miles (210,000 square kilometers) a day, a rapid dip attributed to global warming.

The sea is also bubbling with methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, being released from underwater reserves, a Russian team announced during a December 2008 meeting.

The discovery could be a sign that global warming is thawing underwater permafrost, which is releasing methane that has been locked away for many thousands of years.

Images courtesy NASA

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