🧵 Melting Permafrost: A Window Into the Ice Age—And a Climate Warning
More Ice Age animals—mammoths, cave lions, even baby woolly rhinos—are emerging from the ground. As a paleontologist, I love these discoveries. But why we’re finding more of them? That’s a problem.
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More Ice Age animals—mammoths, cave lions, even baby woolly rhinos—are emerging from the ground. As a paleontologist, I love these discoveries. But why we’re finding more of them? That’s a problem.
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Permafrost isn’t just frozen soil; it’s a carbon vault, locking away organic material for thousands of years.
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So how much carbon are we talking about? A new study sheds light on the risks.
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🔹 Up to 252 gigatons of carbon could be released by 2100 under high emissions.
🔹 4-8% may enter the atmosphere this century—equal to a full year of global CO₂ emissions.
🔹 Most stays locked in the soil, but continued warming could speed up release.
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🔸 Much nitrogen stays too deep for plants to reach.
🔸 Even when plants absorb it, they don’t store enough carbon to balance emissions.
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The Arctic is warming nearly 4x faster than the rest of the planet. If we don’t act, permafrost could become a major climate driver.
Reducing emissions now could slow permafrost thaw, buying us time to adapt & find solutions.
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