Basic information on methane in permafrost

The National Snow and Ice Data Center has an accessible information page about methane in permafrost. Some of the questions listed include:

  1. How much carbon is stored in frozen ground?
  2. What will happen to the frozen carbon if permafrost thaws?
  3. How will additional methane from permafrost affect global warming?

As mentioned before, the methane in permafrost has major significance for climate change policy. If we warm the planet by burning fossil fuels, we could melt the permafrost and release large amounts of methane. That would, in turn, cause still more warming. How much methane would be released for any particular level of warming is an important question, and one that bears upon the question of what portion of the planet’s remaining fossil fuels humanity can safely burn.

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