The problem with global warming is that, as the process continues, it tends to (to use a rather ironic term) snowball and accelerate. A big reason for this was recently discovered as a result of permafrost and peat bog surveys being conducted in places like Scandinavia and Alaska. Here, land that was once covered in permafrost is thawing out and becoming wetlands. This might sound very nice, except that, stored beneath this layer of permafrost, is a buildup of centuries of methane gas created by decaying peat and other plant matter. Once this thaws, the methane will all be released into the atmosphere, increasing levels of methane by as much as 50 percent by some estimates.