Devastating Permafrost: It's Impact on Our World
As the planet warms, more permafrost will melt - heating the planet. It’s a vicious cycle.
Every year, tonnes of methane is pumped into our atmosphere, slowly warming our Earth. Methane primarily comes from permafrost, which is a mixture of soil and rocks that has been frozen underground for at least two years with a temperature of 0ºC (or 32ºF). Throughout the north and south poles, with ¼ of the northern hemisphere having permafrost present in the ground, it covers around 9 million square miles of land. Unfortunately, as it melts, it creates a lot of harm, such as new viruses, and more greenhouse gases - building a vicious cycle. As the planet warms, more permafrost will melt.
Permafrost stays frozen under the active layer all year long. Near the top layer, there is a large amount of organic carbon created from plants. However, the active layer above permafrost changes as the season progress. In the winter, the active layer is frozen, just like permafrost. During the summer, the active layer will thaw out, while the permafrost is still frozen. As the globe becomes warmer and warmer as we pump tonnes of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, permafrost will start to melt. This melting process creates a large number of devastating effects each year, which will change the way our world works.
Permafrost, exposed and thawing near Longyearbyen, Norway. – John Shaw photography.
When the permafrost warms and melts, the land will start to give away because when the ice melts to water, the ground will contract, which can lead to the ground caving in or cracking. For the 35 million people who live on permafrost, this is a real threat to their homes and towns, as the melting permafrost will destroy infrastructure. In Alaska, $5.5 billion will be spent by the end of the century, fixing roads and homes that are victim to permafrost. As our climate continues to warm, so will permafrost, which will lead to billions of dollars spent on repairing necessities in northern areas across the globe. Along with this, thousands of fossils are found throughout permafrost, as they were preserved very well in the freezing ice that makes up permafrost. These creatures are preserved so well that fur and muscle are present during the excavation of these animals. Due to this preservation, bacteria and viruses unknown to humans can also originate from this permafrost from thousands of years ago and infect humans. While many of these viruses are still unknown, the effects of some of these could be disastrous. Some scientists have already discovered 400,000-year-old bacteria from permafrost. The 1918 Spanish flu and smallpox might have even originated from permafrost and then infected the human population.
The worst of permafrost would be the number of greenhouse gases they release into our atmosphere. When plant material dies inside permafrost, it can't decompose due to the sheer coldness of the ice. When permafrost melts, all of the organic carbon presents will start to decay—releasing tonnes of methane and carbon dioxide into our atmosphere, furthering the warming of the planet.
Still, scientists from around the world are studying our Earth's permafrost. Missions dedicated to exploring the effects of permafrost, such as NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP), are taking action. SMAP measures the amount of water on the first 2 inches of Earth's surface all around the world to determine how fast permafrost is melting and thawing away. Ultimately, permafrost is a time capsule that can bring back history - but it is also full of greenhouse gases that melt as our climate warms. Please, make eco-friendly choices every single day because every single action you take has an impact on our planet.