Permafrost in the Arctic and in subarctic regions will most likely continually release substantial quantities of greenhouse gases over the coming decades: that’s the verdict of an international research team, which recently compiled and analysed the latest permafrost studies. As such, they have determined that the recurring thesis that there will be a sudden and widespread release of billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide and methane is highly unlikely. The study was released last week (09.04.2015) in the journal Nature:
‘Climate Change and the Permafrost Carbon Feedback’ by E. A. G. Schuur, A. D. McGuire, C. Schädel, G. Grosse, J. W. Harden, D. J. Hayes, G. Hugelius, C. D. Koven, P. Kuhry, D. M. Lawrence, S. M. Natali, D. Olefeldt, V. E. Romanovsky, K. Schaefer, M. R. Turetsky, C. C. Treat & J. E. Vonk.
The full article can be found at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v520/n7546/full/nature14338.html.
This article is part of a special Permafrost section, called “Specials & supplements archive –> Permafrost“, listing recent permafrost-related articles published in the Nature Publishing Group.