Deep in the Baltic Sea, 110 meters below the surface, a mystery has emerged from the thick walls of steel and concrete that transport natural gas from Russia to Germany.
A mystery and an environmental disaster: one of the four ruptures identified in the Nord Stream on September 26, whose origin has yet to be determined —but which, for scientists, is not natural or the result of a mere accident— released 22,920 kilograms of natural gas per hour in plumes which rose to the surface and rose through the atmosphere. It would be the same as burning 286 tons of coal every 60 minutes.
If the German estimate, which points to a leak of 300,000 tons of methane, is to be believed, the 100-year global warming potential of this incident is equivalent to the release of eight million tons of carbon dioxide, but 25 million tons if the potential is calculated in 20 years.
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Source: Observadora
