Methane hydrate IS a potential problem.

As an engineer, I prefer to focus on real solutions. Simply eliminating humans and reducing carbon dioxide emissions to near zero is NOT a preferred solution, especially when there are lots of other, better solutions:

1. Increasing CO2 is inevitable. We cannot even reverse our own CO2 let alone China, India, et al.

2. IF, and that is a big IF, CO2 becomes a problem, we CAN sequester it using natural, biological means.

3. Excess carbon belongs in our soil. Natives in the Amazon basin did this thousands of years ago to improve the poor soil of the jungle using bio char. They used the plentiful vegetation to add bio char, i.e., charcoal, to the soil in great quantities.

4. However, we don't even need trees to create bio char. It can be done efficiently using row cropping and crop wastes such as corn stalks. There are machines that chop, char, and bury bio char as they move through the fields after harvest.

Fuel is only needed to begin the process. After that, the machine can use the flammable gases given off by the cooking bio char for fuel.

5. If you want to create your own bio char without a machine, dig a trench, add dry wood chips on top of burning brush, and then cover with wet soil. The chips will char underground.

6. I have created bio char in a steel drum and added it to my fruit trees. Those treated with bio char are out producing the others. Plants love bio char in the soil. Soil organisms thrive in this environment.

7. Bio char sequesters carbon for up to several thousand years. You can still find it in the Amazon and elsewhere. Who knew the natives were so clever?

8. The oceans also sequester huge amounts of CO2. Experiments adding trace minerals such as iron have shown explosive growth in algae and fish populations. As dead plants drop into deep, cold water, CO2 is sequestered naturally just as has happened for billions of years on this planet. The extra fish to feed humans is a bonus.

Conclusion: We should capture and use the methane hydrate to eliminate this "threat". As we turn it into CO2, we can sequester it and improve our soil at the same time. Better soil means better nutrition for humans.