Thawing of Permafrost:

Thawing of Permafrost:

Permafrost. Never heard of it? Well, you’re not alone.

Permafrost is any type of ground that has been frozen for a minimum of 2 years to as much as hundreds of thousands of years. Permafrost extends beneath the earth’s surface from a few feet to more than a mile. It also encompasses massive areas as the Arctic tundra, or a single, isolated spot, such as a mountaintop of alpine permafrost.

The problem arises with the C02 accumulated by the permafrost. When thawed at an exponential rate it releases C02 rapidly. As the permafrost in the Arctic melts, it could release that carbon dioxide, along with methane, a gas with more potency and traps over 30 times the heat that C02 does. Such a release will influence the climate dramatically across the globe

Arctic permafrost contains 1.8 trillion tons of CO2, that is more than twice the amount of CO2 already suspended in the atmosphere currently. Even more frightening, scientists have seen and monitored several massive viruses that could be set off by the thawing of permafrost. Research proves that these deadly viruses could escape and cause pandemics at a global scale. There are even possibilities for viruses that haunted Siberia centuries ago to arise again.

Permafrost melting is natural, but our massive and constant release of carbon into the atmosphere causes this process to speed up. At this rate, predictions show temperatures to rise by almost 50% faster. Unfortunately, this information has been known since the 1950s, but the public isn’t given proper precautionary information.

I repeat again, it is a joint responsibility to prevent massive effects of climate change. Please, spread awareness and try and reduce your carbon footprint.

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