OMG, Permafrost Melting Fast & Irreversibly says NSIDC, Huge CO2 Source

[kpete]

16 February 2011
Thawing permafrost will accelerate global warming in decades to come, says new study
Thawing permafrost will accelerate global warming in decades to come, says new study


researchers drill a permafrost core
Kevin Schaefer's research team drills permafrost cores on Alaska's North Slope. New findings by the researchers indicate permafrost in Earth's frozen regions is readying to release vast quantities of carbon into the atmosphere, increasing carbon dioxide levels.
—Credit: Kevin Schaefer, NSIDC/University of Colorado at Boulder



Kevin Schaefer's research team drills permafrost cores on Alaska's North Slope. New findings by the researchers indicate permafrost in Earth's frozen regions is readying to release vast quantities of carbon into the atmosphere, increasing carbon dioxide levels.
—Credit: Kevin Schaefer, NSIDC/University of Colorado at Boulder

This is a press release from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), which is part of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

One- to two-thirds of Earth’s permafrost will disappear by 2200, unleashing vast quantities of carbon into the atmosphere, says a study by researchers at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

“The amount of carbon released is equivalent to half the amount of carbon that has been released into the atmosphere since the dawn of the industrial age,” said NSIDC scientist Kevin Schaefer. “That is a lot of carbon.”

The carbon from permanently frozen ground—known as permafrost —will make its impact, not only on the climate, but also on international strategies to reduce climate change Schaefer said. “If we want to hit a target carbon concentration, then we have to reduce fossil fuel emissions that much lower than previously calculated to account for this additional carbon from the permafrost,” Schaefer said. “Otherwise we will end up with a warmer Earth than we want.”

more:
http://nsidc.org/news/press/20110216_permafrost.html
via:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/02/18/946666/-OMG,-Permafrost-Melting-FastIrreversibly-says-NSIDC,-Huge-CO2-Source-

[DCBob]

1. This is a bad situation getting worse.

but tragically few will notice.

[FLPanhandle]

2. Basically we are already fucked.

It's up to us how bad it'll be.

[XemaSab]

11. I think it's WAAAAAAY outside our hands at this point

/doom

[Urban Prairie]

3. Yikes!! Hopefully there will be no such thing as reincarnation after my death

At least not to be reborn as another human being as soon as the latter half of this century and upon this same planet, I would rather cease to exist for all eternity.

May not matter anyway, perhaps Earth's atmosphere and climate will begin to more closely resemble that of Venus by say 2250 CE.

[daggahead]

4. Just wait until the methane starts escaping. n/t

[highplainsdem]

8. Starts? It already is escaping.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101122/ap_on_re_eu/eu_climate_siberian_meltdown

[daggahead]

9. Well, yeah ... I meant from where they're taking sample.

I know it is already happening.

[Uncle Joe]

5. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[DCKit]

6. We need to begin carpet-bombing the tundra with seedlings - trees and shrubs.

The ecosystem is going to change, no matter what, we've got to stay ahead of the CO2 output by any and all means.

[jberryhill]

7. Shouldn't it be re-named "Tempafrost"?

[hootinholler]

10. The article never mentions CO2...

The carbon they are talking about is likely in the form of methane, which is a much stronger greenhouse gas than CO2.

-Hoot

[upi402]

12. This is the over-arching threat, in reality

The biosphere that supports life itself is threatened by this stuff. Methane is very bad stuff.

[Zoeisright]

13. Wow. That could be the beginning of the end for the human race.

And most other creatures.