Frozen methane under the seafloor holds twice the world's fuel
Geography
Locked in crystalline cages of ice, this massive energy reserve remains stable only under the crushing pressure of the deep ocean, threatening a sudden surge if temperatures rise.
Deep beneath the East China Sea, the seafloor is paved with methane clathrates—a strange, slushy substance where natural gas is trapped inside lattices of frozen water. These reserves are so dense that a single cubic meter of this 'burning ice' releases over 160 cubic meters of gas when it thaws. Globally, these formations hold twice the amount of carbon found in all other fossil fuels combined, including every oil field and coal seam on Earth.