Thawing permafrost may have led to extreme global warming events

[Dead_Parrot]

Scientists analysing prehistoric global warming say thawing permafrost released massive amounts of carbon stored in frozen soil of Polar Regions exacerbating climate change through increasing global temperatures and ocean acidification.

Although the amounts of carbon involved in the ancient soil-thaw scenarios was likely much greater than today, the implications of this ground-breaking study are that the long-term future of carbon deposits locked into frozen permafrost of Polar Regions are vulnerable to climate warming caused as humans emit the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels for energy generation.

Researchers in centres across America, Italy and the University of Sheffield, analysed a series of sudden, and extreme, global warming events - called hyperthermals - that occurred about 55 million years ago, linked to rising greenhouse gas concentrations and changes in Earth's orbit, which led to a massive release of carbon into the atmosphere, ocean acidification, and a five degrees Celsius rise in global temperature within just a few thousand years.

It was previously thought that the source of carbon was in the ocean, in the form of frozen methane gas in ocean-floor sediments but now the experts believe the carbon released into the atmosphere millions of years ago came from the Polar Regions.

More: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-04/uos-tpm040412.php
Paper (sub):http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v484/n7392/full/nature10929.html

And don't forget: Signs of thawing permafrost revealed from space


Oops.

[dipsydoodle]

1. Trigger by volcanic events

from memory.

[Dead_Parrot]

2. Dude, just how old are you?

Yes, volcanism is the most likely given the skewed carbon isotopes.

[dipsydoodle]

3. not quite as old as the Permian extinction

[FogerRox]

4. About half of the world’s underground organic carbon is found in northern permafrost regions.

This is more than double the amount of carbon in the atmosphere in the form of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane.


Phreaking OUCH.

[Mojorabbit]

5. Gosh, this has been a week full of bad news re the climate. nt

[Dead_Parrot]

6. Same as usual, then.

Sigh.

[GliderGuider]

7. Earthfarts stink!

And the train rolls on...