Why Greenland Burning Is Cause For Fear
The real fire and fury is in Greenland right now, and it’s super scary; Scientists are freaking out.
Joe Romm, August 9, 2017 (ThinkProgress)
“Thousands of acres of permafrost are burning in what appears to be Greenland’s biggest fire on record. And climate scientists are freaking out not just because the massive fires are unusual, but because they release large amounts of greenhouse gases and speed up the melt of the ice sheet and the carbon-rich permafrost…[G]rassy, carbon-rich peatlands along the coast are heating up and drying out…Peat fires are difficult to stop, often burning until all the organic matter has turned to ash…[and] are the largest fires on Earth in terms of their carbon footprint…As the massive Greenland ice sheet shrinks–ice melt has sped up more than five-fold since the mid-1990s–more formerly ice-covered land will turn to grass- and shrub-covered peatland, leading to more wildfires, leading to more ice melt. No wonder scientists are freaking out.” click here for more
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