A Natural Cause of Greenhouse Gas | The Institute for Creation Research

A Natural Cause of Greenhouse Gas

Data collected through the 1980s and 1990s strongly suggested that the earth was warming.1 Some scientists believe the phenomenon is man-made (anthropogenic), primarily due to fossil fuel combustion that, we are told, emits greenhouse gases. Other researchers are convinced that the warming trend was caused naturally, perhaps by an increase in the sun's radiation.2 Resolution of these debates seems a long way off, but a new discovery may add weight to the idea that the earth and everything in and around it, including the atmosphere, was designed by God.

Oceanographer David Karl at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa has recently been examining a problem called the "methane enigma." There has been a mysteriously high concentration of methane in the ocean's surface waters, indicating that this gas was being produced in the sea. Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, and fortunately maintains an atmospheric blanketing layer that supports life on earth. Many scientists fear that too much methane in the atmosphere, however, would cause too thick a blanket and that this could become potentially harmful to the planet.

The methane enigma has now been at least partially solved. According to Karl's research, bacteria are converting methylphosphonates into methane in the oceans.3 The methane diffuses from there into the atmosphere. We have long known that bacteria help to maintain a proper balance of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and oxygen levels in the atmosphere. Bacteria are now known to play a vital role in maintaining methane levels as well. This makes sense within the creation science model--a loving God created a robust atmosphere, complete with bacterial systems that balance amounts of atmospheric gases in order to support life.

References

  1. Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Accessed online July 10, 2008. Since 1998, earth's temperature has not been warming, and in January 2008 the temperature dramatically sank. See also "January 2008--4 sources say 'globally cooler' in the past 12 months" on the Watts Up With That? website, accessed July 10, 2008.
  2. Over 9,000 Americans with PhDs in science have signed the Global Warming Petition Project to voice their disagreement with the anthropogenic theory of the cause of global warming. Accessed online July 10, 2008.
  3. New Pathway For Methane Production In The Oceans Discovered. Science News. Posted on ScienceDaily.com on July 4, 2008, accessed July 10, 2008.

* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer.

Article posted July 16, 2008.

The Latest
NEWS
Was an Insect Ancestor Discovered?
There is nothing simple about an animal group called the euarthropods (phylum Euarthropoda), which includes insects, crustaceans, and extinct trilobites. Evolutionists...

NEWS
October 2024 ICR Wallpaper
"The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light...

NEWS
Collapsed Utah Arch Prompts Questions about Arch Formation
We lost a natural wonder to gravity and erosion on Thursday, August 8, 2024.1 Those who visited Double Arch, also called “Hole in the...

ACTS & FACTS
ICR 2024 Resource Catalog
At the Institute for Creation Research, our mission is not only to conduct research demonstrating how science confirms Scripture but also to share this...

CREATION.LIVE PODCAST
Beetle Blasts and Biomimetics | Creation.Live Podcast: Episode...
Though tiny, the bombardier beetle is a fascinating masterclass in design. Evolutionists claim that this explosive insect came about by chance,...

NEWS
Another Arch Collapse at a National Park
Erosion and other natural forces upon sedimentary formations such as exposed cliffs and arches belie the millions of years during which they allegedly...

CREATION PODCAST
Living in Light of Genesis | The Creation Podcast: Episode 82
The world tells us that the book of Genesis is, if not entirely, at least partially a myth. We are told that history, archaeology, and science...

NEWS
Does Pauli Exclusion Rescue Dino Protein?
Perhaps no other fossil discoveries have rocked the world of paleontology more than original organics like proteins in old bones. ICR helps curate a...

NEWS
Support the ICR Discovery Center on North Texas Giving Day 2024!
It's North Texas Giving Day! We invite you to support our unique creation museum and planetarium in Dallas, TX—the ICR Discovery Center. Your...

NEWS
Evolution's Hypothetical Last Universal Common Ancestor
Evolutionists utilize a theoretical tree of life that takes people, plants, and animals back into deep evolutionary time to an unobserved, unknown,...