Methane Seeping From Arctic Seabed

In what might explain part of the positive feedback mechanism of greenhouse gases the BBC reports on a finding by a British and German research team that methane gas is seeping up from the Artctic seabed. The Arctic is already melting a record rate with some predicting that the region will be ice free by the summer of 2013. With temperatures rising, the methane is now escaping and although most of it will be dissolved in the water, some will break through to the ocean surface. The question is how much and how big an influence this will have on the increase in temperature.