Permafrost thaw won’t run away with Earth’s climate

[kristopher]

10. That sounds consistent with the press release.

"n Canada, Olefeldt said the Mackenzie Valley in the Northwest Territories and the Hudson Bay Lowlands are where large stores of carbon are most vulnerable to thawing, though the phenomenon is occurring everywhere from Fort McMurray northward. Another key area, he said, is in northern Russia along the coast.

But unlike reports of an imminent and rapid permafrost-fueled “carbon bomb,” as some worst-case scenarios have put it, Olefeldt said the thaw is likely to produce a gradual and prolonged release over time, meaning humans have time to prepare.

That said, new scientific information is constantly altering what science knows and can predict about climate change. Just last week, another article published in the Nature Climate Change journal reported that the breakdown of organic materials in warming permafrost actually generates heat, boosting decomposition in a way similar to composting and causing more melting.

“So we don’t know everything,” Olefeldt said. “Even with the projections we have in our article there are large uncertainties.”