Methane levels for March 2012 are highest above ESAS

NASA has made available the monthly methane levels for March 2012. As the polar projection below shows, extremely high levels of methane are concentrated above the East Siberian Arctic Shelf (ESAS).

The image below further shows how the anomalies have increased over the years, especially on the Northern Hemisphere; note the wide gaps between anomalies on the Northern Hemisphere (blue) and the Southern Hemisphere (green) over the past few months. 

The images, based on AIRS NASA data, were produced by Dr. Leonid Yurganov, Senior Research Scientist, JCET, at University of Maryland - Baltimore County. For further images, see Dr. Yurganov's archive at asl.umbc.edu/pub/yurganov/methane