Permafrost thaw won’t run away with Earth’s climate [View all]

[kristopher]

Permafrost thaw won’t run away with Earth’s climate: report
But melt could release over 100 billion tonnes of emissions within century
by Meagan Wohlberg


Melting permafrost in the Peel region of the Northwest Territories causes an effect called slumping, where portions of the landscape collapse and pour into nearby waterways. Photo: NWT Geoscience Office

Despite making a contribution of 100 billion tonnes to global warming emissions over the next century, permafrost thaw in the North is not anticipated to cause a catastrophic, runaway feedback loop with respect to climate change, according to a new report.

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“One of the things we want to emphasize is that we don’t think the permafrost thaw can turn into a runaway feedback loop situation, where it’s self-sustaining and climate change runs amok,” Olefeldt said. “When it comes to climate change, it’s still very much up to human decisions.”

The report finds that around 10 per cent of the carbon stores in frozen permafrost will be released through warming by the end of the century, totalling around 100 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide.

In comparison, the combustion of fossil fuels is releasing around 10 billion tonnes per year alone.

Though considerably lower on the order of magnitude, Olefeldt said the impact of permafrost-related carbon emissions must be factored into current climate models being used to shape global policy on climate change....

http://norj.ca/2015/04/permafrost-thaw-wont-run-away-with-earths-climate-report/