The more intensive the thawing becomes, the more gas is released. As an international team led by the American researcher Katey Walter Anthony from theWater and Environmental Research Center at the University of Alaska in Fairbanksreports in the journal Nature Communications that the thaw is progressing much faster than previously assumed.

This can be observed in the soils surrounding and below the many lakes that are found throughout the permafrost region. Their findings show that the lakes are clearly and substantially amplifying the thawing of permafrost soils. Whereas the gradual thaw in the surrounding area tends to affect only the topmost centimetres, over the past few decades the soil below newly formed lakes as young as a few decades has thawed to depths of 15 metres. In the course of the project, Ingmar Nitze from the AWI permafrost research unit in Potsdam analysed satellite images gathered from to , and explains the phenomenon as follows: First, small meltwater pools are formed.

On the edges of these pools and beneath, the water continually thaws the surrounding permafrost soil, which results in laterally expending and vertically deepening lakes.

Bad Aibling rail accident

When this happens, the water temperature at the bottom of the lake remains above the freezing point — and the thawing continues throughout the winter. Scientists have speculated for some time now that this could have a major impact on the atmospheric greenhouse gas balance, since compared to carbon dioxide, methane has 30 times the climate-warming effect.

The team has for the first time precisely quantified the additional amount of greenhouse gases produced in this manner, for all permafrost regions around the globe. To do so, they took random samples of the gases being released at various lakes. There's a problem loading this menu right now.

Original publication

Get fast, free shipping with Amazon Prime. Get to Know Us. English Choose a language for shopping.

Amazon Music Stream millions of songs. Amazon Advertising Find, attract, and engage customers. Amazon Drive Cloud storage from Amazon. Alexa Actionable Analytics for the Web.

Munich - Wikipedia

AmazonGlobal Ship Orders Internationally. Amazon Inspire Digital Educational Resources. Amazon Rapids Fun stories for kids on the go. Amazon Restaurants Food delivery from local restaurants.


  • .
  • Dry Heat?
  • LINUX em Questões de Concursos - Nível Médio (Portuguese Edition);

ComiXology Thousands of Digital Comics. East Dane Designer Men's Fashion. Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands.