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

[OKIsItJustMe]

14. Original Press Release: Thawing that abets climate change will occur over decades and centuries

http://uofa.ualberta.ca/news-and-events/newsarticles/2015/april/thawing-that-abets-climate-change-will-occur-over-decades-and-centuries

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Thawing that abets climate change will occur over decades and centuries[/font]

[font size=4]Researchers predict gradual, prolonged release of greenhouse gases from thawing permafrost.[/font]

By Helen Metella on April 16, 2015

[font size=3](Edmonton) There’s qualified good news about one contributor to climate change, say researchers who have crunched data from a series of recent studies.

Organic carbon trapped in permafrost soils of arctic and subarctic regions risk being released as greenhouse gases to the atmosphere once these soils thaw and start to decompose. However, evidence suggests that the release will be gradual rather than abrupt, spanning decades to centuries as opposed to a single decade.

“Taking into account the full body of evidence published over the last decade allows us to largely rule out catastrophic scenarios of runaway climate change in response to arctic permafrost thaw,” said David Olefeldt, a researcher in the Department of Renewable Resources and CAIP Chair in Watershed Management and Wetland Restoration. He’s one of a group of researchers from around the world who reviewed current knowledge about permafrost thaw in a new study.

However, even the more moderate rate of greenhouse gas emissions associated with this organic carbon release will still make climate change happen faster than we would expect based on human activities alone.

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Study here: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v520/n7546/full/nature14338.html