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Science & Technology

Trapped permafrost gases could be released

By T.K. Randall
October 27, 2012 · Comment icon 37 comments

Image Credit: NOAA
Large quantities of greenhouse gases could be released in to the atmosphere over the next century.
It is believed that as much as 850 billion tons of carbon and 44 billion tons of nitrogen are stored within the Arctic permafrost, a ticking time bomb of greenhouse gases that could be released as the ground warms up over the next few decades. If that were to happen then the gases would contribute substantially to global warming, further exacerbating the existing problem.

"While the permafrost of the polar latitudes may seem distant and disconnected from the daily activities of most of us, its potential to alter the planet's habitability when destabilized is very real," said US Geological Survey director Marcia McNutt.
The release of carbon and nitrogen in permafrost could exacerbate the warming phenomenon and will impact water systems on land and offshore according to USGS scientists and their domestic and international collaborators.


Source: Science Daily | Comments (37)

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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #28 Posted by Little Fish 12 years ago
any climate threat will come from a global ice age. some perspective:
Comment icon #29 Posted by 12 years ago
Steve, No one is claiming that the world is ending because of us. The world will continue, but the world we need to survive may not. To the world this matters not one tiny jot since it has been through 6 mass extinctions in its long history. Unfortunately we are not the world and we will certainly regret having destroyed the equilibrium of a system on which have come to depend on having a very narrow set of environmental variables. For most that going to be terminal - for some they will probably survive into a very different future. I don't know what hole you pulled the time scale of 100yrs, t... [More]
Comment icon #30 Posted by Kazoo 12 years ago
They are screwed anyway if nothing changes. Better to change things now and offer them some hope for a viable future. Still, i seriously believe that we will not make it into that better future with the projected levels of population growth and everyone aspiring to my modest lifestyle. No easy answers for us humans. Br Cornelius They thought that along time ago too. But then boom. Science created more efficient ways to grow crops. Humanity saved. With all the amazing technology we have today. I'm sure we'll be fine as long as we stop people from purposely withholding for capitalist purposes.
Comment icon #31 Posted by pallidin 12 years ago
I assume this gaseous release is a slow release(decades/centuries/many centuries) But I am no expert in that field. As was suggested earlier in this thread, this has happened before, with no truly catastrophic consequences. However, that was before we started dumping serious pollutants into the very air we breath. I am going to hold from a firm opinion at this time...
Comment icon #32 Posted by Professor Buzzkill 12 years ago
They thought that along time ago too. But then boom. Science created more efficient ways to grow crops. Humanity saved. With all the amazing technology we have today. I'm sure we'll be fine as long as we stop people from purposely withholding for capitalist purposes. And as long as we don't destroy the capitalist system that encourages technological advancements in the name of climate change
Comment icon #33 Posted by Little Fish 12 years ago
all this malthusian indoctrination about population. human population is largely in decline. the west and other "first world" countries, china, russia are all in population decline, developing nations such as india are stabilising. the only place where population is increasing is in africa and black skinned countries. if you want to reduce the population, then you should be lobbying for reducing the black population. edit - before anyone gets upset with that, the way to reduce population growth in african countries is by letting them develop independently, economically and educationally to the... [More]
Comment icon #34 Posted by 12 years ago
They thought that along time ago too. But then boom. Science created more efficient ways to grow crops. Humanity saved. With all the amazing technology we have today. I'm sure we'll be fine as long as we stop people from purposely withholding for capitalist purposes. Food production has peaked and is in decline. Technology in the agricultural sector borrows from the future since in depletes soil carbon and micro nutrients as well as water. We loose about a million acres of productive agricultural land a year. This is replaced by wilderness and forest clearance. All this is against a projected ... [More]
Comment icon #35 Posted by 12 years ago
Population is still growing even in most developed countries, it will continue to grow out to at least 2050 regardless of reproduction rate's dropping below replacement rates. We have discussed these demographic issues before Little Fish. Almost all of the environmental damage occurred in the last 40yrs. so a continuation of population growth out to 2050 will do as much damage as we have currently caused. What will make it worse is the standard of living and rates of resource consumption are growing across the world - and this is the main driver of environmental degradation. Education will hel... [More]
Comment icon #36 Posted by Little Fish 12 years ago
Population is still growing even in most developed countries, it will continue to grow out to at least 2050 regardless of reproduction rate's dropping below replacement rates. We have discussed these demographic issues before Little Fish.we have discussed them before, but you have not acknowledged that world population growth is overwhelmingly in africa, just look at the charts and compare Europe, north america with africa. if you are going to talk about numbers then the numbers matter.http://www.guardian....tion-country-un the blue line is africa - 1 billion in 2010 - 3.5 billion in 2100 (gro... [More]
Comment icon #37 Posted by 12 years ago
we have discussed them before, but you have not acknowledged that world population growth is overwhelmingly in africa, just look at the charts and compare Europe, north america with africa. if you are going to talk about numbers then the numbers matter. http://www.guardian....tion-country-un the blue line is africa - 1 billion in 2010 - 3.5 billion in 2100 (growth of 2.5 billion) the top line is world population - 7 billion in 2010, 10 billion in 2100 (growth of 3 billion) so 83% of the population growth up to 2100 is going to be in africa, the other half billion is in asia (4 billion in 2010,... [More]
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