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The article looks at the possible future release of a large amount of methane caused by the melting of permafrost in the Arctic region, which is of concern in relation to methane's role as a greenhouse gas which would contribute to global warming. Topics include the persistence of carbon dioxide versus methane in the atmosphere and the ancient geological changes which created a reservoir of methane under the permafrost in the East Siberian Arctic shelf.

According to a study by Justine Ramage and her colleagues at the Nordregio research institute, areas of permafrost in the Arctic are now emitting more carbon into the atmosphere than they absorb. This is due to the thawing of the permafrost, which releases carbon compounds from the once-frozen biological matter in the ground. The study found that the permafrost region emitted 144 million tonnes of carbon per year between 2000 and 2020, as well as 3 million tonnes of nitrogen per year. This shift from sink to source will exacerbate climate change and is not fully accounted for in global climate models. [Extracted from the article]

The article focuses on the current state of the cryosphere, highlighting the impacts of global warming on polar ice sheets, sea ice, mountain glaciers, and permafrost, as well as the urgent need for action to mitigate these effects and minimize the risks to ecosystems and society. Topics include the prediction of record-breaking global temperatures, the alarming rate of ice loss in the polar regions, and the potential consequences of sea level rise and extreme weather events.

The article presents a brief profile of Russian scientist Sergey Zimov, and his plan to slow the thawing of the Arctic. It mentions Zimov co-founded the Northeast Science Station (NESS) for Arctic research, and began a lifetime of studying the far north; and damage to infrastructure and livelihoods above ground is worrying enough. It mentions Zimov published a series of papers showing that permafrost contained far larger stores of greenhouse gases.

A recent study has found that global methane emissions are increasing at an alarming rate, despite efforts to reduce them. Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide and has a much greater warming effect in the short term. Human activities, such as agriculture and fossil fuel extraction, are responsible for two-thirds of global methane emissions. The top five emitting countries are China, India, the United States, Brazil, and Russia. To achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and limit global warming, methane emissions must be cut by almost half by 2050. [Extracted from the article]

Wildfires can damage the Arctic's permafrost—a frozen layer of soil that stores large amounts of carbon—and can contribute to an increase of greenhouse gas emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: ALLTOP; ALTNRG; BUSINESS; CLIMATE; CMD; CONS; COS; ELC; GEN; INDUSTRIES; NRG; RET; SCIENCE; UTI; WORLD; WWTOP; WWTOPAS; WWTOPEU EN ALLTOP ALTNRG BUSINESS CLIMATE CMD CONS COS ELC GEN INDUSTRIES NRG RET SCIENCE UTI WORLD WWTOP WWTOPAS WWTOPEU (Bloomberg) - Few things signal something's gone haywire on the planet quite like frozen land on fire. When frozen ground melts, it can destabilize the earth above it so much that the ground subsides or collapses, leaving behind a landscape of what scientists call thermokarst. [Extracted from the article]

In the article, the author examines the possible effects of the melting or thawing of permafrost, particularly in Siberia and Yakutia in Russia. Other topics include the carbon content of permafrost, the explanation of scientist Trofim Maximov on the contribution of permafrost to climate change, and the claim by Melnikov Permafrost Institute's Yuri Murzin that the study of permafrost started at the Shergin's shaft in Yakutsk, Russia.

The article discusses the effect of giant waves on the loss of sea ice in the Arctic Region. Topics include the effects of ice loss from giant waves in the Arctic Ocean, such as the loss of walrus habitat, a disruption of the jet stream, and erosion of permafrost coasts, a project called the Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) program, and wave research in the Beaufort Sea by oceanographer Jim Thomson.

Soviet policy for settling the Russian North led to extensive in-migration in the 1960s-1980s, resulting in massive population growth and a staggering pace of urbanization in the Soviet Arctic. Multistory houses, road networks, and other infrastructure were built, transforming pristine tundra into anthropogenic and urban landscapes. The Soviet emphasis on developing Russia's Arctic regions, despite the cost and difficulty of doing so, has left a problematic legacy for modern Russia. One of the common problems shared by many Soviet-era urban communities is the debilitated state of infrastructure built on permafrost. This article provides a brief overview of the challenges associated with urban development in permafrost regions in an attempt to identify major causes of present-day infrastructure problems in the communities of the Russian North. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the environmental impact of the rapid warming in the Arctic. According to the article, there has been an increase in the amount of sea ice melting each summer, and some are predicting that as early as 2030 there will be no summer ice in the Arctic at all. It warns that changes in ocean currents could disrupt the Asian monsoon. It adds that the release of methane from melting permafrost could lead to runaway warming.

We demonstrate that the multi-parameter TMC outputs support a holistic understanding and refined depictions of permafrost terrain sensitivity, provide novel opportunities for syntheses, and inform future modelling approaches, which are urgently required to comprehend better what permafrost thaw means for Canada's North." Our news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Northwest Territories Geological Survey: "This is accomplished through the Thermokarst Mapping Collective (TMC), a research collaborative to systematically inventory indicators of permafrost thaw sensitivity by mapping and aerial assessments across the Northwest Territories (NT), Canada. [Extracted from the article]

The article reports on a paper published in the July 4, 2013 issue of "Nature" by evolutionary biologist Ludovic Orlando and team on the extraction and analysis of DNA from a 700,000 year old fossil horse preserved in permafrost at Thistle Creek in the Canadian Yukon. The ancient DNA was compared to modern horse DNA. The results suggest that the Mongolian Przewalski’s horse is a distinct wild species which diverged 38,000-72,000 years ago from the evolutionary ancestors of domestic horses.

The article reports on the health risks presented by the thawing of the Earth's permafrost. Topics discussed include the researchers' claim that global warming will hasten the thawing of permafrost which will then release ancient bacteria that 21st century humans may not have immunity to, the outbreak of anthrax in Siberia in the summer of 2016 attributed to permafrost thawing and the use of DNA sequencing and protein analysis to categorize permafrost-dwelling microorganisms.

The article focuses on discovery by Janet Jansson and her team from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California that microorganisms in the Arctic permafrost can be of help in reducing the rise in temperature in the region.

The article discusses a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on climate change. The author notes that the report is intended to eliminate skepticism about global warming but does not contain theoretical information on positive feedbacks of greenhouse gases that could increase global warming, such as the melting of permafrost and ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. The IPCC report also excluded evidence regarding the rise of sea levels. INSET: REASONS TO BE CAUTIOUS.

The article focuses on the U.S. Army's Snow, Ice and Permafrost Research Establishment (SIPRE) in Wilmette, Illinois. Inside SIPRE are six laboratories insulated by aluminum-painted cork and cooled by chemical refrigerants. Scientists working for the U.S. Army have been conducting experiments to determine why snow vary in weight. The scientists are also studying food preservation, sewage disposal and human survival in the cold.

This article discusses the conclusions from a 15-year study that monitored the ocean temperature, methane levels and chemistry of the Arctic Ocean located above Siberia. During the term of the study, melting of the ice covering the sea was occurring in this area at an alarming rate. It was noticed in 2003 that the levels of methane in the ocean and the atmosphere began to rise. Scientists discovered that the heat-trapping gas was coming from the once-frozen permafrost seabed floor. The gas could be seen rising as bubbling clouds that would release into the atmosphere, increasing the cycle of global warming.

Byline: Staff Writers Skolkovo, Russia (SPX) May 22, 2019, 2019 Russian scientists have discovered a previously unknown mechanism of influence of salts migration on the degradation of gigantic intra permafrost [...]