22% of the Earth’s surface is permanently frozen. It has a surface area of more than 112 million square kilometers; This corresponds to an area 6.6 times the size of Russia and 222 times the size of Spain. It’s called permafrost, since then it’s been a real time bomb under our feet begins to melt due to global warming, It will have devastating consequences for the climate and, accordingly, the future of life on the planet.
Permafrost is a layer of soil, rock or sediment. temperature is 0°C or lower throughout the year. It is found mainly in northern latitudes (Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and Russia) and at altitudes above the tree line, including non-snow-covered regions.
The United Nations Organization (UN) has been sounding the alarm for several years and demanding that this be done in concert with the scientific community. Alarming loss of land ice Receiving the global attention and research it deserves.
Because According to the UN, this thawing is “reshaping landscapes, displacing entire towns and disturbing the sensitive habitats of animals; it also threatens to release dangerous microorganisms.” methane and carbon emissions that have been frozen and trapped inside for thousands of years.
The latest warning was launched by the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL). The main concern is that permafrost in polar regions contains large reserves of water. carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), two powerful greenhouse gases. “If these gases were released, the consequences for the climate would be catastrophic,” warns Michael Lehning, director of EPFL’s Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory.
Microorganisms that can ‘wake up’
But that’s not all, because Polar permafrost also contains bacteria and microbes that have been frozen for thousands of years and may “awaken” again. In fact, NASA discovered microbes in melted permafrost that are more than 400,000 years old.
Because although the plant and animal material known as permafrost is frozen organic carbon– it does not decompose, it does not rot, when this layer melts microbes begin to deteriorate the material and release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Scientists predict that The Arctic will warm two to three times more than the global average this century. So, when talking about 1.5°C globally, it is necessary to specify 3°C in the North Pole. This means: more frequent heat waves both in winter and summer and ‘indirect effects‘ (forest fires, insect outbreaks…) are already happening.
Already in 2019, The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has classified permafrost thawing as one of the ten most worrying emerging challenges for the environment. At that time, the southern limits of permafrost in the Arctic had retreated northward by 30 to 80 km, a significant loss of cover. They have fallen further since then.
Polar permafrost consists mainly of salt marshes and peat bogs, where moisture content is high and plant matter decomposes very slowly due to low temperatures. This creates perfect anaerobic conditions. carbon storage.
“Sleeping giant” methane
It is estimated that Permafrost contains twice as much CO2 and methane as in the atmosphere. A 2015 study estimated the total carbon reserves in permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere to be 1,832 gigatonnes (billions of tons). Therefore, the disappearance of permafrost would be tragic for the Earth.
“If this huge reservoir of gas is released, global warming will accelerate significantly.. However, we still do not fully understand the dynamics at play, especially when it comes to natural compensation mechanisms,” notes Michael Lehning in an article published by EPFL science editor and press officer Sarah Perrin.
“For example, we know that Some of the additional CO2 will be fixed by the growth of new plantsbut we don’t know how much. We believe this in the current situation. Thawing permafrost will often exacerbate the effects of climate change“The German-Swiss scientist adds.
on the subject methanesome scientistssleeping giant“carbon cycle, It has an effect on global warming 80 times stronger than CO2. In the Laptev Sea in the north of Siberia, methane concentrations 400 times higher than atmospheric concentrations were detected at a depth of 350 meters.
Problem added: Permafrost is melting much faster than expected. In countries such as Switzerland, where 5% to 6% is covered by permafrost, thawing can cause land instability. “There is a risk for structures such as buildings, pipelines, dams, cable car stations and electrical substations,” warns Lehning.
“The biggest threat comes from the instability of the land, combined with more intense rainfall, as more landslides and rocks, as well as more sediment, can break and fill river beds. This is a problem that will develop more gradually, however.” Damage can be significant“, indicates the scientist.
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