Аннотация:A correlation is observed between changes in the level of Earth’s seismic activity andincrements of the atmospheric methane concentration over the past 40 years. Trigger mechanisms areproposed for methane emissions and glacier collapse in polar regions. These mechanisms are due todeformation waves caused by large earthquakes in subduction zones located near the polar regions:the Aleutian and Kuril–Kamchatka subduction zones, closest to the Arctic, and the Antarctica–Chileanand Tonga–Kermadec–Macquarie subduction zones. Disturbances of the lithosphere are transmittedover the distances of 3000–4000 km and more at a speed of about 100 km/year. Additional associatedstresses come to the Arctic and Antarctica several decades after the occurrence of large earthquakes.In the Arctic zone, additional stresses affect the low-permeability structure of gas bearing sedimentarystrata, causing increased methane emission and climate warming. InWest Antarctica, deformationwaves could trigger the acceleration and intensive collapse of West Antarctic glaciers, which hasbeen observed since the 1970s. These waves are also capable of activating dormant volcanoes locatedunder the sheet glaciers ofWest Antarctica, leading to an increase in heat flux, to the melting of iceat the glaciers’ base, and to their accelerated sliding towards the ocean, as is happening with theThwaites Glacier.
