This Sounds Ominous

The largest frozen peat bog in the world, lying in western Siberia, is melting, according to Russian scientists. The million square kilometre area*, previously permafrost, is becoming a series of increasingly soggy shallow lakes, some already more than a kilometre across.

The melting raises the spectre of vast quantities of methane suddenly being released into the atmosphere. Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases, with a warming effect 20 times greater than that of carbon dioxide.

PS - Here's another article from the same journal ... I love the title! Bush admits to being hotter and gassier, blames humans