The lake can be heard making strange bubbling and hissing sounds as the methane gas seeps out from underneath the snow and ice, and has been part of a decade long study headed by ecologist Katey Walter Anthony from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
All the way back in 2010 she was unexpectedly part of a viral video showcasing the effect of poking holes in the ice and setting fire to the gas (checkout the post video).
What is happening here is that large pockets of methane gas trapped in the permafrost gets released into the air, creating holes in the lake. The gas then creates bubbles and rises to the surface and escapes into the atmosphere.
While it does look like a cool party trick, this could actually be part of a larger problem indicative of the effects of global warming.
