Vi har længe vidst, at permafrosten i de arktiske egne var ved at tø, og at dette ville fremme klimaforandringerne. Nu afsører ny forskning, at dette bidrag har været undervurderet i de officielle opgørelser og at der kan ske pludselige og store udledninger af flere forskellige klimagasser fra den tøende permafrost. På den anden side, vi det varmere klima fremme plantevæksten, som så kan optage noget af den frigjorte CO2. National Geographic skriver bl.a:
Scientists have known for decades that as rising temperatures thaw the northern latitudes, previously frozen soil called permafrost will release greenhouse gases, which in turn will speed up global climate change. But based in part on what they learned by studying Alaska’s “drunken forests,” Turetsky, Jones and a team of experts this week confirmed something else: Warming of small patches of frozen ground that contain large veins of ice will release far more emissions than once thought.
Source: The Arctic’s thawing permafrost is releasing a shocking amount of dangerous gases
