How an Unlikely Friendship Upended Permafrost Myths

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https://eos.org/features/how-an-unlikely-friendship-upended-permafrost-myths

By Jenessa Duncombe, Eos/AGU. 

Excerpt: It’s not just the Arctic: Worldwide, methane emissions have been rising at an accelerating rate since 2007, and scientists aren’t sure why. Last year, about 640 million metric tons of methane entered the atmosphere, and global concentrations hit the highest value recorded since data collection began in 1983. Although scientists believe that Arctic methane contributes only a tiny fraction of today’s rise in emissions, they worry that will change. Methane emissions from thawing permafrost could use up 25%–40% of the allowable emissions to keep climate increase below 2°C, according to Susan Natali at the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Falmouth, Mass. ...A seminal discovery by a Russian scientist and an American researcher investigating winter methane emissions in the 1990s revealed a source of methane emissions that was previously unaccounted for. In the years following, estimates of climate warming from permafrost would more than double.… 

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