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Past records of methane release are crucial for understanding future climate changes. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, that has had significant impact on climate changes in the geological past.<\/p>\n
\u201cPreviously, when dating the natural release of methane, we used to measure mostly carbon isotopes.<\/a> But now we know that carbon isotopes alone can\u2019t tell us the full story of past emissions of this greenhouse gas.\u201d says professor Giuliana Panieri, from CAGE Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate at UiT The Arctic University of Norway<\/a>.<\/p>\n Professor Panieri is a micropaleontologist<\/a> and co-author of a new study in Scientific Reports<\/a> showing a new approach to geochemical measurements.<\/p>\n Measuring carbon isotopes is a very important method within climate sciences. Carbon, found in all living things, is absorbed over time in a particular fashion by organisms in nature. For instance, carbon found in methane (CH4) in the ocean, is absorbed in the shells of tiny organisms called foraminifera, leaving isotopic clues.<\/p>\n Foraminifera, found in all of the world\u2019s oceans, are excellent carriers of information. They inhabit methane seeps and their shells are preserved as fossils in ocean sediments.<\/p>\nGeological detective work<\/h2>\n