THE SLEEPING GIANT OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Is Arctic Permafrost the "Sleeping Giant" of Climate Change?

June 27, 2013 (Philadelphia Inquirer)

“…Over hundreds of millennia, Arctic permafrost soils have accumulated vast stores of organic carbon - an estimated 1,400 to 1,850 billion metric tons of it. That's about half of all the estimated organic carbon stored in Earth's soils…Most of the Arctic’s sequestered carbon is located in thaw-vulnerable topsoils within 3 meters of the surface…But, as scientists are learning, permafrost - and its stored carbon - may not be as permanent as its name implies. And that has them concerned…As heat from Earth's surface penetrates into permafrost, it threatens to mobilize these organic carbon reservoirs and release them into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and methane, upsetting the Arctic's carbon balance and greatly exacerbating global warming…” click here for more

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