Global warming threatens permafrost
The rate of climate warming over northern Alaska, Canada, and Russia raises concerns about the thawing of permafrost, a new study concludes.
The study by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) says that the thawing of permafrost could potentially have dramatic consequences for sensitive ecosystems, human infrastructure, and the release of additional greenhouse gases, the Science Daily reports. Arctic soils are believed to hold 30 percent or more of all the carbon stored in soils worldwide, the journals informs. Although researchers are uncertain what will happen to this carbon as soils warm and permafrost thaws, one possibility is that the thaw will initiate significant additional emissions of carbon dioxide or the more potent greenhouse gas, methane. About a quarter of the Northern Hemisphere’s land contains permafrost -Our study suggests that, if sea-ice continues to contract rapidly over the next several years, Arctic land warming and permafrost thaw are likely to accelerate, lead author of the reports Mr. David Lawrence says to the Science Daily.
