Would one of you scientist-types PLEASE debunk this?

[East Coast Hustle]

http://www.helium.com/items/1882339-doomsday-how-bp-gulf-disaster-may-have-triggered-a-world-killing-event

[The Johnny]

From the same site:

http://www.helium.com/items/1889326-fear-mongering-rife-around-the-gulf

Sure, the world is gonna freeze over, while we all die of influenza.

I did panic for some 20 minutes, but eh, there's too many dicks trying to troll us into hysterical paranoia.

[LMNO]

http://www.helium.com/items/1882339-doomsday-how-bp-gulf-disaster-may-have-triggered-a-world-killing-event

Giant methane bubbles.



...










EARTH FARTS.

[Richter]

The article sites an extinction event which MAY have featured methane release, but was more apparently due to asteroid impact and volcanic activity, of which methane release may have only been a partial result. 

Imagine you're the earth, and have been eating taco bell and heinously powerful indian food for awhile.  Then someone shoots you in the ass.  Of course, there's the immediate trauma, and some loss of control, spewing the horrible resultant shit matter out onto your surface.  It get's rolled around over your surface by your circulating atmosphere, like the over-helpful hands of a pair of semi-comely brazillian scat queens.  As you're reeling from this, you fart.

Sure, bummer you farted, but you are still shot in the ass and covered with shit.  It kind of trumps the farting in why no one wants to be near you ATM.

[Kai]

http://www.helium.com/items/1882339-doomsday-how-bp-gulf-disaster-may-have-triggered-a-world-killing-event

The article assumes we actually know how the Permian extinction event happened, and that it was caused by a giant methane bubble explosion. Except we don't know how it happened, only that 96% of species present in the fossil record went extinct at the end of the Permian, leaving a 4 million year geologic dead space with few fossils. The methane hypothesis is yet unsupported. So the premise that the entire article is based upon isn't supported.

There, debunked.

[LMNO]

Global Cauliflower Vindaloo.   D/N/T

[East Coast Hustle]

http://www.helium.com/items/1882339-doomsday-how-bp-gulf-disaster-may-have-triggered-a-world-killing-event

The article assumes we actually know how the Permian extinction event happened, and that it was caused by a giant methane bubble explosion. Except we don't know how it happened, only that 96% of species present in the fossil record went extinct at the end of the Permian, leaving a 4 million year geologic dead space with few fossils. The methane hypothesis is yet unsupported. So the premise that the entire article is based upon isn't supported.

There, debunked.

fair enough, but I'm more interested in why this can't happen now, not whether or not it happened millions of years ago.

I'm not concerned that the entire world will die or anything like that, but I am concerned about the whole "mega-tsunami" thing given that I'm going to be spending most of my time in close proximity to that part of the world.

[Kai]

http://www.helium.com/items/1882339-doomsday-how-bp-gulf-disaster-may-have-triggered-a-world-killing-event

The article assumes we actually know how the Permian extinction event happened, and that it was caused by a giant methane bubble explosion. Except we don't know how it happened, only that 96% of species present in the fossil record went extinct at the end of the Permian, leaving a 4 million year geologic dead space with few fossils. The methane hypothesis is yet unsupported. So the premise that the entire article is based upon isn't supported.

There, debunked.

fair enough, but I'm more interested in why this can't happen now, not whether or not it happened millions of years ago.

I'm not concerned that the entire world will die or anything like that, but I am concerned about the whole "mega-tsunami" thing given that I'm going to be spending most of my time in close proximity to that part of the world.

http://io9.com/5585294/methane-bubble-doomsday-story-debunked

[Triple Zero]

I wondered about when the article described the resulting tsunami as "supersonic"--is that even possible? A wave of water moving faster than the speed of sound?

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I wondered about when the article described the resulting tsunami as "supersonic"--is that even possible? A wave of water moving faster than the speed of sound?

If I recall, such things are theoretically possible. Not necessarily with water, but with storms. But then again, you don't really see that sort of thing except on Jupiter or Neptune (which apparently has a very active atmosphere with intense storms, despite distance from the sun). Could probably happen on Earth with an impact large enough to wipe us out immediately anyway (both storm and tsunami wise).

[Requia ☣]

Gasses compress better than water though, which allows for easier access to supersonic speeds.  The energy needed to do it with water would be substantially higher.

[LMNO]

Hold on a second.  

If we say "Speed of Sound" is the speed sound travels at sea level through the air (common definition), that's about 760mph (34.5 deciliters for eurospags).  In deep water, a tsunami can normally reach about 600mph (that is, 87 shillings).

It could be possible that a truly cataclysmic event could create a tsunami that could travel faster than the standard definition of the speed of sound.  It's a sloppy use of the word "supersonic", though.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Gasses compress better than water though, which allows for easier access to supersonic speeds.  The energy needed to do it with water would be substantially higher.

Yeah, that's why I added the impact thing. Such an event would not happen on Earth without some sort of catastrophic, mass-extinction event. Cool idea though. Kinda like hypercanes. You would never get a hypercane on Earth below a certain atmospheric temperature, even though they have been hypothesized in conjunction with mass-extinction events in conjunction with asteroid impacts.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Hold on a second.  

If we say "Speed of Sound" is the speed sound travels at sea level through the air (common definition), that's about 760mph (34.5 deciliters for eurospags).  In deep water, a tsunami can normally reach about 600mph (that is, 87 shillings).

It could be possible that a truly cataclysmic event could create a tsunami that could travel faster than the standard definition of the speed of sound.  It's a sloppy use of the word "supersonic", though.

I agree, though I was assuming supersonic to be in reference to breaking the sound barrier in whatever medium it was happening in.
Excellent point LMNO.

But you're right. Other than it happening on a planet with conditions not conducive to life as we know it, there would need to be some sort of huge catalyst coming from outside.

[Richter]

Due to the desnity and fluidity of water, I'm inclined to say the force would cause a large splash and a conventional wave (even one of tsunami size) long before it would generate a tsunami behaving massively different than any other ever seen.  (reaction or water from undersea nuclear tests and the Krakatoa explosion as examples)  The energy invovled jsut doesn't all go into one big wave.