Permafrost will cease to be a sink and will start emitting CO2 by mid-century

So far, current climate models have underestimated the rate at which deep permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere will thaw, which one study has found will cease to be a carbon dioxide sink and become “a net source of emissions” by mid-century.

The details of the study, led by the Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences (France) and carried out in collaboration with centers in China and Sweden, have been published this Friday in the journal Science Advances. The work has analysed the evolution of the thawing of permafrost taking into account the role of Jedoma deposits and peatlands, immense carbon reserves buried deep in the boreal and Arctic regions and which are vulnerable to the increase in temperatures caused by climate change. The authors explain that so far climate models have only studied the behavior of permafrost, the layer of soil up to three meters long that remains frozen for years and contains highly lability organic matter (which decomposes easily by releasing the CO2 it stores).

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