Rising global temperatures are causing frozen Arctic soil- permafrost-in the northern hemisphere to thaw and release CO2 that has been stored within it for thousands of years.
Rising global temperatures are causing frozen Arctic soil- permafrost-in the northern hemisphere to thaw and release CO2 that has been stored within it for thousands of years. The amount of carbon stored in permafrost is estimated to be four times greater than the combined amount of CO2 emitted by modern humans.
Research results from an international team, which includes a researcher from the University of Copenhagen among others, suggests that the newly discovered phenomenon will release even larger quantities of CO2 than once supposed from organic matter in permafrost-a pool of carbon previously thought to be bound tightly and safely sequestered by iron.
The amount of stored carbon that is bound to iron and gets converted to CO2 when released is estimated to be somewhere between two and five times the amount of carbon released annually through anthropogenic fossil fuel emissions.
Read more: University of Copenhagen
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