Fire and Ice

Burning methane gas on Beluga Lake

Winter has finally arrived in Homer, Alaska, and that means ice, snow, and fun outdoors. The freezing of Beluga Lake in the heart of town transforms this relatively shallow lake into a winter playground. When conditions are right, the lake is a favorite destination for ice skaters, and later for cars, providing an opportunity to spin out on the ice. In mid-winter, the spinning tires get serious when Homer Ice Racing Association vehicles blast around the lake. We and a number of other locals have a different tradition when the ice freezes on Beluga Lake: lighting methane gas bubbles.

Methane gas is naturally produced by the decomposition of plant material in lakes and ponds. During the summer, methane bubbles to the surface unnoticed, but in winter, gas bubbles collect beneath the ice. When conditions are right cold temperatures and little or no snow cover these bubbles are readily visible as white areas just below the surface of the ice. Lighting the methane bubbles is basic. One person holds a sharp object such as a ski pole to poke a small hole and a second person quickly risks life and limb to light the escaping gas jet. The larger bubbles shoot a meter or higher and can burn for 30 seconds or longer. It’s easy to singe your hair (or worse), so don’t try this at home kids! Others have documented this in YouTube videos from lakes near Fairbanks and in Siberia.

The methane gas bubbles provide entertainment, but they are also evidence of a natural process that will severely impact the earth’s environment. The tundra of northern Alaska (along with Canada and Russia) is covered with a myriad of lakes, ponds, and marshes. The earth’s warming climate is melting the permafrost, releasing vast amounts of gas into the atmosphere and causing bubbling geysers of methane in some Arctic lakes. As a greenhouse gas, methane is 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, trapping heat that will greatly accelerate global warming.

Global warming is an issue that needs immediate international action, and Alaskans no matter what their political beliefs will see enormous changes to our world in the years to come. This is not a matter of politics. It is a matter of protecting our planet.

All text and photos © 2009 Don Pitcher

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