Nord Stream pipelines explosion 'act of war': Workers World

NEW YORK - Estimates are that half a million metric tons of methane exploded from the damaged Nord Stream pipelines, a larger quantity emitted at one time than any ever previously recorded, reported US news portal Workers World on Saturday about the Sept 26, 2022, explosion.

Methane, the main component in natural gas, traps heat 80 times more efficiently than carbon dioxide, and human-caused methane release occurs due to all fossil fuel development and landfills, in addition to livestock and rice fields. "Human-caused-emission quantities of methane are considered to be a greater factor for near-term climate change than carbon dioxide," according to the report, which is titled "Nord Stream pipeline attack: an act of war."

On Feb 21, representatives of UN Security Council members Ecuador, Gabon, Mozambique and others spoke about the explosion's incalculable source of pollution to marine life in the area; threats to aerial and marine navigation; the devastating climate consequences; and the dangers the explosion poses for the complex global geopolitical situation, in which any incident could trigger unpredictable consequences, said the report.

The United Arab Emirates was among many countries' representatives who called for an immediate independent investigation grounded in science and facts, not political posturing, it said.

"Clearly, the (US) Pentagon is more interested in intensifying its proxy war against Russia than in aiding the transition to green energy," noted the report while citing Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh's recent report which said the United States and Norway destroyed Russia's Nord Stream pipelines with sophisticated method.

US President Joe Biden said at a press briefing last year that "if Russia invades (Ukraine) ... there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it," according to the report.

The Nord Stream pipelines run from Russia directly to Germany through the Baltic Sea, and supplied Germany with such a large surplus of Russian natural gas that Germany sold the excess to other countries in Western Europe, said the report.