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Off the West Coast of the United States, methane gas is trapped in frozen layers below the seafloor. New research from the University of Washington shows that water at intermediate depths is warming enough to cause these carbon deposits to melt, releasing methane into the sediments and surrounding water.

Researchers found that water off the coast of Washington is gradually warming at a depth of 500 meters, about a third of a mile down. That is the same depth where methane transforms from a solid to a gas. The research suggests that ocean warming could be triggering the release of a powerful greenhouse gas.
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Earth seems to have had a number of lucky escapes recent years; several asteroids have passed uncomfortably close to our home planet, and one exploded without warning in 2013 over Chelyabinsk in Russia, causing injuries to residents and extensive damage to buildings.

Now another piece of space debris has been identified as a potential risk, as scientists reveal that a mountain-sized asteroid could be on a collision course with planet Earth.
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The question of whether life ever existed on Mars has inspired scientists – and songwriters – for decades. The Red Planet is currently an arid, icy desert where no sign of life remains, but was it always this way?

It is widely recognised that living entities have three basic requirements: standing water, an energy source and the five chemical elements, carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, phosphorus and nitrogen. Then a very long time for the chemical soup to stew. The rover Curiosity has found evidence of all three in certain areas of Mars, namely the Gale Crater, but were these available for long enough for life to develop?
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Back in 1965, maverick scientist James Lovelock, warned an oil company that the year 2000 would not be dominated by fusion-powered cars or advanced technology, but by the changing climate.

"It will be worsening then to such an extent that it will seriously affect their business," he said. He may have slightly under-played the effect of advanced technology on our society, but he was certainly not wrong about the environment.
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