Huge Store of Natural Gas Is Identified on Alaska’s North Slope

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has identified massive deposits of natural gas. on Alaska’s North Slope that could heat 100 million homes for more than a decade, according to a report in the Washington Post. The gas is stored in the form of gas hydrates — a slushy combination of gas and water that forms under high pressure and low temperatures — and can be recovered with existing drilling technology, according to the USGS. One USGS official called the find “groundbreaking”, but environmentalists are warning that drilling for the gas hydrates can cause significant environmental damage and are urging careful study before widespread drilling begins. Some of the deposits are under the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The rapid disappearance of Arctic sea ice is making resource exploration in the Arctic a more realistic prospect, and environmentalists are concerned that a new era of drilling and shipping in the Arctic could ruin the largely pristine region.