Gas leak in the Nord Stream unleashes an environmental disaster on the Baltic Sea

MADRID, 28 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The steaming pool of methane gas in the Baltic Sea, the result of an alleged sabotage in the Nord Stream gas pipelines, threatens to trigger an environmental disaster, as scientific experts and environmental organizations have already begun to warn.

Methane is considered a key emitter of greenhouse gases, so the scientific community is struggling to make any predictions about the effects of the triple leak in Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2. Both pipelines contain gas. under pressure, despite not currently being in operation.

Scientist David McCabe, an expert from the Clean Air Task organization, warns that, 20 years from now, "a ton of methane has a climate impact that is more than 80 times greater than carbon dioxide", which makes the current leak is "very worrying", according to the agency Bloomberg.

The director of energy strategy at the Environmental Defense Fund, Andrew Baxter, has estimated that some 115,000 tons of methane have already been emitted into the atmosphere, which is equivalent to 9.6 million tons of CO2 or the emissions of two million cars. of gasoline for a whole year.

The NGO Greenpeace has raised this estimate and equates it to 30 million tons of carbon dioxide, although the fact that the leaks are underwater and not in the open air complicates the preparation of this type of estimate. What all the experts agree on is its seriousness.

The largest leak of methane known to date occurred in the Aliso canyon, in Los Angeles (United States), and in 2015 it meant the escape into the atmosphere of some 97,100 tons of methane, spread over several months. In the case of the Nord Stream, it would have been in just a few hours.

The German Environment Ministry, however, has stated that the leak does not pose a significant threat to marine life in the area, since the greatest climate risk is in the atmosphere. Even so, authorities in Germany, Denmark and Sweden exchange information to determine the possible effects.