On Earth, we think of methane as a clean-burning fossil fuel when confined to a tank, or alternately, a dangerous greenhouse gas when floating freely in the air. Indeed, researchers consider methane to be 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide in its warming potential; frighteningly, our planet has some 10,000 gigatons of methane currently trapped as methane hydrate in ice. This has prompted many scientists to sound the alarm bells over the potential for a cyclical out-of-control greenhouse effect that could release much of this trapped methane and rapidly warm Earth, dooming much life.
Yet one planet’s poison is another planet’s ichor. A new study published in Astrophysical Journal suggests that the habitable zone — the region around a host star in which an orbiting planet could harbor liquid water, which suggests Earth-like life could thrive — may extend much further than previously thought once the potential presence of methane in an atmosphere is considered. The theory has many implications for the search for extraterrestrial life.
To read more, click here.