Alaska's+Permafrost+is+Thawing

Alaska's Permafrost is Thawing New York Times, August 23, 2017 ( [] )

Summary This article discusses the increasing rate of Arctic warming in Alaska: nearly twice as fast as other parts of the planet. Scientists have discovered that vast amounts of carbon in organic matter are stored in permafrost. As this permafrost begins to melt, microbes will convert this excess carbon into methane and carbon dioxide which will contribute even more to global warming. Scientists have estimated that the thawing of permafrost could cause an increase of up to 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit in the next several centuries. According to Max Holmes, senior scientist and deputy director of the research center, the loss of permafrost "has all kinds of consequences both locally for this region, for the animals and the people who live here, as well as globally. It’s sobering to think of this magnificent landscape and how fundamentally it can change over a relatively short time period,” he added. In July, scientists from the Wood Hole Research Center set up projects on their own to better understand how thawing permafrost affects the landscape and, ultimately, how much and what mix of greenhouse gases is released. Estimates vary, but emissions over the rest of the century could average about 1.5 billion tons a year, about the same as current annual emissions from fossil-fuel burning in the United States. Dr Holmes says "There’s a massive amount of carbon that’s in the ground, that’s built up slowly over thousands and thousands of years. It’s been in a freezer, and that freezer is now turning into a refrigerator."

Relation To Class This article is related to AP Environmental Science as it describes the process of an occurring natural process and its effects on the environment in the future. I learned from this article that the melting of permafrost would release twice the amount of carbon dioxide currently in the air, which would lead to nearly a 2 degree Fahrenheit increase of global temperatures. One of the causes of the thawing of permafrost is wildfires, as burning removes vegetation that acts as insulation. The thawing of permafrost will ultimately have effects on climate change, including average temperature, carbon dioxide and methane levels, and heat trapping ability. Most of the increased levels of greenhouse gases have been caused by anthropogenic activities, including burning fossil fuels, agriculture, deforesttation, and use of CFCs (Miller 501).

Opinion I strongly support the research done by the Wood Hole Research Center to learn more about permafrost melting and its relationship with global warming. Global warming has been an important topic in our planet's environmental discussion for a while, and I think that it is important that we learn more about the causes of global warming as well as the ways in which we can prevent the process. I am specifically interested in how wildfires (anthropogenic and natural) affect the melting of permafrost.

Law Federal Land Assistance, Management, and Enhancement Act of 2009 - This Act established a separate account for funding for emergency wildfire suppression activities.

Images [] (EnviroNews) [] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">(New York Times)

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Joydeep Mukherjee