Study: Global Warming Time Bomb Trapped In Arctic Soil

NWF Staff | Last Updated: January 5, 2016

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Locked into the frozen Arctic tundra soils lies a ticking
time bomb. A warming climate may
unexpectedly release huge stores of carbon dioxide from Arctic
permafrost, which would in turn fuel a cycle of carbon-fueled climate
change, a new study
warns.

Accumulated and decaying plant matter is rich in carbon, and
there is a lot of it, that could dramatically exacerbate the effects of global
warming should these materials be unlocked.

For now this carbon-rich matter lies mostly dormant in the
permafrost of Siberia, Alaska,
and Canada,
according to the Discovery
Channel. Scientists say that because
of the effects of global warming,
this ticking time bomb may be itching to go off. Our planet is warming as a result of billions
of tons of carbon pumped into our atmosphere each year, and the permafrost is
starting to melt.

In a recent study in the journal Nature Geoscience,
scientists estimate there may be almost 100 billion tons of carbon in the first
meter of soil alone.