Polar bears likely survived past warm periods in the Arctic, when sea ice cover was low, by scavenging on the carcasses of stranded large whales. This food source sustained the bears when they were largely restricted to land, unable to roam the ice in search of seals to hunt. A new study led by the University of […]
New NASA-funded research has discovered that Arctic permafrost’s expected gradual thawing and the associated release of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere may actually be sped up by instances of a relatively little known process called abrupt thawing. Abrupt thawing takes place under a certain type of Arctic lake, known as a thermokarst lake that forms […]
Dear Editor, In response to the recently published article entitled “Thawing Permafrost Microbiomes Fuel Climate Change,” it is increasingly evident that a bold and swift transition to renewable energy, and away from fossil fuels, is essential for maintaining a livable planet. Unforeseen variables, such as thawing permafrost carbon sinks, are only accelerating the rate of […]
A new study shows that as those fires scorched a region of boreal forest the size of Maryland, they released half as much carbon back into the atmosphere as all the plants, shrubs and trees in Canada typically store in an entire year. The Arctic is warming faster than any other region on Earth, and […]