Permafrost Forcast

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Scientists are trying to gauge the carbon release from the eroding Permafrost as dueto climate warming large amounts of ground ice contained in frozen soil is melting and methane from the decomposing plant matter is being released into the atmosphere. Earth’s permafrost stores an estimated 20% more organic carbon than is currently in the atmosphere. As permafrost is found along 34% of the planet’s coasts, it is a big deal when the frozen ground erodes, and melts and could release an estimated 14 billion kilograms of organic carbon into the atmosphere.Rapid warming is likely to increase erosion rates yet is hard for scientists to measure the actual risk potential of this warming effect.

To get a better handle on what is happening according to Sarah Stanley “researchers collected permafrost soil samples at multiple depths from 22 sites along the coastal bluffs, ensuring that the region’s varying terrain types were represented. The talley found that erosion of permafrost releases a total of 36 million kilograms of organic carbon from the Yukon Coastal Plain into the Beaufort Sea annually.” (Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JG004166, 2018)

These findings contribute to growing knowledge of Arctic coastal dynamics, especially for the Yukon region. They could aid understanding of how carbon cycling in the region may evolve as climate change progresses and help refine predictions of future climate change.”
(Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JG004166, 2018)