Melting Permafrost Could Make Global Warming Worse

A new study finds that melting permafrost in Siberia could make global warming significantly worse by releasing up to 500 billion tons of Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere, almost as much as the 700 billion tons currently in the atmosphere.

1 minute read

June 19, 2006, 8:00 AM PDT

By Charles Siegel

"Global warming might be significantly worse than expected during the next century because the melting of carbon-rich permafrost in Siberia could expel hundreds of billions of tons of extra greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, scientists warn in a new study."

"Experts said they can't be certain how large the impact might be, because they can't accurately estimate how much of the extra greenhouse gases will be absorbed by plants and the oceans."

"The melting of Siberian permafrost that has been frozen for thousands of years could eject about 500 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere during the next century, scientists from Russia, Alaska and Florida report in today's issue of Science. By comparison, at present the atmosphere contains about 700 billion tons of greenhouse gases."

FULL STORY: Permafrost melt could speed up global warming

Friday, June 16, 2006 in

Environment World

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