Antarctica has become a real climate bomb

Antarctica has become a real climate bomb
Antarctica has become a real climate bomb
Anonim

Scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder concluded that the dramatic thawing of the permafrost (cryolithozone), which acts as a climate bomb, doubles previous estimates of potential carbon emissions in the polar north. The results of the work, revealing the truth about the climate situation in the Arctic, are reported in a press release on Phys.org.

The researchers examined the difference between the gradual thawing of the permafrost zone and its faster disappearance. About 20 percent of the Arctic region is vulnerable to dramatic melting of permafrost due to the large amount of ice. Accelerated destruction of the permafrost zone leads to carbon emissions in the composition of methane and carbon dioxide.

According to experts, the melting of permafrost, which is now observed in the Arctic, is affecting landscapes in an unprecedented way. For example, forests become waterlogged and the frequency of landslides increases, tree roots are deprived of reliable support. Eighty percent of the polar north is affected by gradual thawing that occurs over decades or centuries, however, in the remainder, thaws can occur over a period of months. This contributes to the appearance of thermokarsts, which are expressed in soil subsidence and the formation of craters.

Thermokarsts are amplifying the feedback loop between climate change and the release of greenhouse gases from the melting permafrost, jeopardizing efforts to curb rising global temperatures.

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