A release of methane in the Arctic could cause climate change and sea ice to melt quicker than it should according to a paper published in the journal Nature.
The cost to the global economy could wind up around $60 trillion over the next few decades.
Scientists at the University of Cambridge and Erasmus University in the Netherlands used economic modeling to figure out the potential damage the release of a 50-gigatonne reservoir of methane could cause under the East Siberian Sea.
The team examined a specific scenario where there is a release of methane "over a decade as global temperatures rise at their current pace" according to Reuters.
"The global impact of a warming Arctic is an economic time-bomb," said Gail Whiteman, an author of the report and professor of sustainability, management and climate change at the Rotterdam School of Management, part of Erasmus University according to Reuters.
The costs could be even larger if other issues occur like ocean acidification.
The study said the cost could be reduced by approximately $37 trillion if something is done to lower emission according to the paper.
"In the absence of climate-change mitigation measures, the model calculates that it would increase mean global climate impacts by $60 trillion," said Chris Hope, a reader in policy modeling at the Cambridge Judge Business School, part of the University of Cambridge according to Reuters.
The value of the global economy reached around $70 trillion last year.
As much as 80 percent of the costs would likely come from developing countries "experiencing more extreme weather, flooding, droughts and poorer health" the paper said.
If trapped, methane could break the sea surface and escape into the atmosphere according to the study. This could "speed up sea-ice retreat, reduce the reflection of solar energy and accelerate the melting of the Greenland ice sheet."
Experts have said the rise in global average temperatures this century needs to stay below 2 degrees Celsius to prevent a chance of dangerous climate effects like crop failure and melting glaciers.
The International Energy Agency warned people in June that the world is on track for a rise of 3.6 to 5.3 degrees Celsius if things continue as they are. The agency cited a record high global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2012 according to Reuters.
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