Scientists aim to understand what happened during permafrost thawing periods in the past and predict how present-day global warming may affect permafrost and what this could lead to.
Scientists from Russia and the United States studied the composition of the deep layers of permafrost in Eastern Siberia to better understand the hazards of the permafrost thawing to our planet and its inhabitants. Their findings suggest that the release of organic matter from the permafrost will intensify the greenhouse effect. The results of their study were published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.
An ice-coated ground that never thaws, permafrost accounts for nearly 25% of land on Earth. Permafrost has increasingly drawn the attention of scientists due to global warming, since permafrost thawing may trigger extensive releases of ancient organic carbon and possibly result in a huge environmental disaster. There is no clear understanding of the consequences of the permafrost meltdown, which may be fraught with other risks aside from a global rise in sea levels.
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