Organic carbon in permafrost

One of the many serious consequences of the climate crisis is that precious permafrost is thawing, and this is unleashing even more carbon to the atmosphere and further exacerbating climate change. However, it’s complicated. For example, sometimes permafrost can thaw rapidly and scientists are unsure why and what these abrupt thaws mean in terms of feedback loops. The image, which uses the Northern Circumpolar Soil Carbon Database, shows how much organic carbon lies in the upper 2 m of soil frozen by permafrost. The more organic carbon there is, indicated by the darker pink colours, the more risk there is of carbon being released to the atmosphere when the permafrost thaws. Thanks to an ESA–NASA initiative, new research digs deep into understanding the complexities of rapid permafrost thaw and how carbon is released over different time scales.

Read full story: Permafrost thaw: it’s complicated