Scientists investigate the effects of carbon emissions from thawing permafrost soils
By comparing estimates of Arctic-wide permafrost carbon emissions from surface thaw alone with estimates that include abrupt thaw beneath thermokarst lakes, the researchers found that accounting for emissions from abrupt thaw more than doubles previous estimates of warming caused by northern permafrost thaw this century. These findings demonstrate the need to incorporate abrupt permafrost thaw in Earth system models for a more comprehensive understanding of the rate of climate change throughout the 21st century.
1 Taylor, P.C., W. Maslowski, J. Perlwitz, and D.J. Wuebbles, 2017: Arctic changes and their effects on Alaska and the rest of the United States. In: Climate Science Special Report: Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume I [Wuebbles, D.J., D.W. Fahey, K.A. Hibbard, D.J. Dokken, B.C. Stewart, and T.K. Maycock (eds.)]. U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, USA, pp. 303-332. https://doi.org/10.7930/J00863GK
2 Walter Anthony, K., Schneider von Deimling, T., Nitze, I., Frolking, S., Emond, A., Daanen, R., Grosse, G. (2018). 21st-century modeled permafrost carbon emissions accelerated by abrupt thaw beneath lakes. Nature Communications, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05738-9

Methane emitted from thawing permafrost below an Arctic thermokarst lake is trapped in bubbles of many different sizes and shapes as the ice grows during the winter. Credit: Katey Walter Anthony/University of Alaska Fairbanks.