WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 (AP)  Methane, a potent heat-trapping gas, is bubbling out of the thawing Siberian permafrost five times as fast as previously thought, researchers are reporting.

The finding, being published Thursday in the journal Nature, is based on new, more accurate measuring techniques.

“The effects can be huge,” said the lead author, Katey Walter of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. “It’s coming out a lot, and there’s a lot more to come out.”

Molecule for molecule, methane is 23 times as effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, the main gas linked to global warming.