Is there a written transcript of her interview. Ive tried to listen to a couple of different sites and I can not understand alot of what she says.
Cross-posting this, but it may be helpful. I think my bit of Ukrainian study helps me understand Shakhova. We've been discussing it on the 'This is not good' thread, too.
http://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,484.msg30626.html#newMy synopsis of the 45 minute interview:
Very interesting that she argues clearly against geoengineering, going so far as to joke about it. She said, what are we to do, flip the poles so we get the climate of Antarctica in the Arctic? I suspect she's succeeded in talking AMEG out of pushing this idea. I see all the links to their 'strategic plan' are dead now.
It all sounds seriously 'not good'.
Surprises to me (and I've been following her and Semiletov since 2010):
The part of the East Siberian Arctic Sea closest to shore has only been under water a geologically short time. On this winter's expedition they were surprised to find the permafrost there at the thawing point rather that at the expected minus 7. It should be more stable than the deeper areas.
Shakhova and Semiletov were doing research on the ESAS in 1998 when they found a single highly concentrated plume of methane. This is what started their dogged search for the answers about the methane that's supposed to be sealed under permafrost.
She seems to be frustrated that other scientists don't understand that methane hydrates in southern oceans release themselves through oxidation slowly and through a deep water column, where in the case of the ESAS the pure methane gas is released straight to the atmosphere thorough physical pathways (openings in the thawing permafrost) and a shallow water column over the shelf.
There is a fault/rift that makes catastrophic release a possibility, which would immediately raise the global average temperature 3 degrees.
They've been very conservative in their estimates of just how many gigatonnes of methane there may be trapped under the permafrost, basing it on the equivalent area on the land-based permafrost. It could go a few kilometers deep or MANY.
The expedition this summer is making a single line across the arctic. She wishes the international scientific community would share in a project to continuously monitor the vast expanse with observation stations.
The gist of the interview is that things have been changing very fast.
