Melting permafrost is becoming a huge source of global warming

Several decades ago, it was discovered that the farthest reaches of our planet had been storing carbon in frozen permafrost for many years. However, recent research conducted by NASA experts shows that permafrost in the Arctic is approaching a tipping point.

As permafrost thaws, it releases greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, which accelerate global warming.

Frozen arctic permafrost

Permafrost is ground that remains permanently frozen, usually year-round, for long periods of time—often spanning decades, centuries, or even millennia.

Permafrost, found primarily in northern regions of the Earth such as the Arctic and parts of Alaska, Canada and Siberia, serves as a natural carbon store.

This frozen ground traps organic matter such as dead plants and animal remains that have not completely decomposed due to cold temperatures.

Underground carbon safe

Over time, these materials accumulate enormous amounts of carbon, effectively locking it underground in a manner that has long been considered “carbon-friendly.”

However, as the Arctic warms at an accelerated rate—four times faster than other regions—the permafrost is beginning to melt. This thawing process releases previously accumulated greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide and methane.

These heat-trapping gases contribute to global warming by turning permafrost from a carbon sink into a source of emissions.

Greenhouse gases released from permafrost

A recent study conducted by NASA scientists and Stockholm University provides intriguing information about this vast permafrost region.

The study carefully explains where and how greenhouse gases are escaping into the atmosphere as the Arctic warms.

Researchers found that between 2000 and 2020, the earth’s emissions nearly eclipsed the carbon dioxide it absorbed.

Thus, the permafrost region is increasingly contributing to global warming. This phenomenon is also associated with another greenhouse gas, methane. While methane is not as long-lasting as carbon dioxide, it can cause serious damage in its short lifespan by being much more effective at trapping heat.

Upsetting the balance of permafrost

Abhishek Chatterjee is a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (USA).Jet Propulsion Laboratory) in Southern California and co-author of the study.

“We know that the permafrost region has been sequestering and storing carbon for tens of thousands of years,” Chatterjee said.

“But we are now finding that climate-driven changes are tipping the balance toward permafrost becoming a net source of greenhouse gas emissions.”

Perhaps the concept of permafrost needs to be explored in more detail. Cutting through the permafrost core exposes layers of icy soil. These soils are chock full of dead plants and animals, which can be carbon dated using a variety of methods.

This is the organic carbon that microbes feed on when permafrost melts and decomposes, releasing some of it as greenhouse gases.

Permafrost emissions tracking

Scientists use a variety of methods to track emissions, from ground-based instruments and aircraft to satellites.

NASA Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (Higher) concentrated in Alaska and western Canada. However, taking measurements in the vast northern expanses is far from easy.

The new study, part of the Global Carbon Project’s RECCAP-2, tracked three greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide—over 7 million square miles of permafrost from 2000 to 2020.

Carbon emissions in Arctic ecosystems

Experts have found that forests absorb slightly more carbon dioxide than they emit. However, this was largely offset by carbon dioxide emissions from lakes and rivers and from forest and tundra fires.

The results show that greenhouse gases contributed to planetary warming over a 20-year period. But over a 100-year period, emissions and removals will mostly cancel each other out.

Thus, the region oscillates between being a carbon source and a weak carbon sink.

A complex picture has emerged

To come to such conclusions about defrosting Permafrost and greenhouse gas emissions, scientists had to use a combination of methods.

Bottom-up methods estimated emissions using ground- and airborne measurements and ecosystem models, while top-down methods used atmospheric measurements from satellite sensors including NASA’s Orbital Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) and JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) Greenhouse Gas Observation Satellite.

“This study is one of the first in which we can integrate different methods and data sets to bring together this very comprehensive study. greenhouse gas budget into one report,” Chatterjee said. “This reveals a very complex picture.”

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