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Download Could thawing permafrost accelerate global warming?
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Could Thawing Permafrost Accelerate Global Warming? by Dr. Aaron Thierry The School of Geosciences, The University of Edinburgh, U.K. Email: [email protected] Source: International Permafrost Association What is Permafrost? Permafrost is soil that has been frozen for at least two consecutive years. It is found in large parts of the Arctic & in the Himalayas – encompassing about 25% of the northern hemisphere land area. There’s more than twice as much carbon stored in permafrost as there is in the whole atmosphere. Did you know that scientists have found Mammoths frozen in permafrost? This shows that much of it has been frozen since the last ice age – thousands of years ago! Find out more: http://tinyurl.com/lu27dkt Source: Alex Petrov Permafrost and Climate Change Global warming, due to man-made greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels, is happening faster in the Arctic than anywhere else. This warming is causing permafrost to begin to thaw. The graph opposite is from a scientific report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – it shows the projected decline in the area of surface permafrost. Source: IPCC (2013) Fig 12.30 The different coloured lines represent different scenarios. Dark blue represents a scenario in which we take action to dramatically reduce our carbon emissions. The red one is one in which we keep burning more & more fossil fuels, if that happens then by 2100 the surface permafrost might be nearly all gone! Find out more: http://tinyurl.com/co73ndb Why is Permafrost important? When permafrost thaws, bacteria can start to breakdown the soil – like when a freezer breaks & all the food goes off. As microbes breakdown soil, Carbon Dioxide (CO2) & other heat trapping greenhouse gases are released. This could possibly create a vicious cycle whereby warming causes thaw & thaw then causes more warming! On the other hand Arctic plants also grow better in warmer climates & take up more CO2 - this might offset some of the soil decomposition. My work at the University of Edinburgh on the CYCLOPS project is trying to better understand the balance between plant sinks & soil sources of carbon in the Arctic. Source: National Science Foundation To find out more go to: http://arp.arctic.ac.uk/projects/carbon-cycling-linkages-permafrost-systems-cyclops/