Explanation:

Methane hydrate is a crystalline solid that consists of a methane molecule surrounded by a cage of interlocking water molecules.

Four Earth environments have the temperature and pressure conditions suitable for the formation and stability of methane hydrate. Global warming might trigger the release of methane gas from these deposits. These are:

1) sediment and sedimentary rock units below Arctic permafrost;

2) sedimentary deposits along continental margins;

3) deep-water sediments of inland lakes and seas; and, 4) under Antarctic ice.

At low temperatures the methane hydrates on the sea floor are stable, but if the water and the sea floor become warmer, then the hydrates can break down. Because microorganisms then oxidize the resulting methane gas to form the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2), methane hydrates have recently become a topic of intense discussion within the context of climate change.

Methane is relatively short-lived in the atmosphere; a molecule of methane is oxidized to water and carbon dioxide within a decade or so, mainly by reaction with another trace gas, the hydroxyl radical OH-. Thus, unlike the case of carbon dioxide (which stays in the atmosphere longer than methane), a concerted effort to reduce methane emissions would have almost immediate results in terms of reduction of greenhouse effect