EarthFart !

[TheNiche]

I couldn't help it, this had to be re-posted from Swamplot, which re-posted from Helium and Reddit.

Mass death on the water

If the methane bubble—a bubble that could be as big as 20 miles wide—erupts with titanic force from the seabed into the Gulf, every ship, drilling rig and structure within the region of the bubble will immediately sink. All the workers, engineers, Coast Guard personnel and marine biologists participating in the salvage operation will die instantly.

Next, the ocean bottom will collapse, instantaneously displacing up to a trillion cubic feet of water or more and creating a towering supersonic tsunami annihilating everything along the coast and well inland. Like a thermonuclear blast, a high pressure atmospheric wave could precede the tidal wave flattening everything in its path before the water arrives.

When the roaring tsunami does arrive it will scrub away all that is left.

[bachanon]

I couldn't help it, this had to be re-posted from Swamplot, which re-posted from Helium and Reddit.

this is, by far, one my top ten thread titles!!

[AtticaFlinch]

This is why I don't fart in the pool anymore.

[RedScare]

I guess this would solve the 'Walmart in the Heights' problem.

[porTENT]

http://io9.com/55852...-story-debunked

During our recent cruise to the Gulf we observed significantly elevated levels of methane at water depth greater than 2500 feet, in the vicinity of the Deepwater Horizon spill site. While the total quantity of methane and other hydrocarbons is enough to cause problems with the regional ecosystem, there is no plausible scenario by which this event alone will cause global-scale extinctions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25BE42PzZZc&feature=player_embedded

[Marksmu]

I couldn't help it, this had to be re-posted from Swamplot, which re-posted from Helium and Reddit.

Well...since we are all dead anyways we can at least stop worrying about global warming, and Walmart!

[Fringe]

Well at least I have something to think about other then the impending Zombie attack. 

[gto250us]

I hope someone lights a match when the fart is ready. It should be awesome.

[Jeebus]

Next, the ocean bottom will collapse, instantaneously displacing up to a trillion cubic feet of water or more and creating a towering supersonic tsunami annihilating everything along the coast and well inland.

If the ocean bottom collapses, wouldn't the resulting crater take in that trillon cubic feet of water, and not displace it?

[UrbaNerd]

If the ocean bottom collapses, wouldn't the resulting crater take in that trillon cubic feet of water, and not displace it?

It would result in a major displacement of water indeed, but probably not a massive tsunami as described. The initial vertical displacement of water/methane mix collapsing into the wake of water rushing to fill the void could create a major disturbance, along with the rush of water going towards the void from the rest of the surrounding ocean. If anything, we'd just end up with a large scale version of what happens when you flush your toilet; the water and waste goes under, and the water coming back to replace it collides on itself , causing ripples to radiate out.

I wonder what the net effect of this seafloor collapse would be on global sea levels? Perhaps we have an unorthodox solution to rising sea levels then!

[Trae]

It's not healthy to hold in your gas.

[samagon]

The initial vertical displacement of water/methane mix collapsing into the wake of water rushing to fill the void could create a major disturbance in the force.

is the midichorian count of the ocean floor that high?