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Report of an ancient methane release raises questions for our climate future

The Washington Post · Chris Mooney · last updated

A new scientific claim about a burst of methane from the sea floor 125,000 years ago raises questions about our climate future.

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State of Play

What began as a theory in the 1890s — that industrial emissions of carbon dioxide could increase global temperatures — had progressed to a scientific fact a century later. Scientists across a range of disciplines are studying the impact of the still-growing concentration of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere as they call for industrial and governmental policies to slow, then halt, the warming of the planet. 

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