What is Arctic Permafrost and why is it important?

Written by Geraint Moody

The arctic permafrost, found in some of the coldest regions of the earth, is a terrain that consists of soil, rocks and sediments - all held together by ice which acts as a form of cement.?

The permafrost, dating back to the Ice Age, is found in many northern hemisphere regions, such as Siberia, Alaska and Tibet. This accumulation of ice and rock is vast, with a depth of hundreds of meters in some regions; data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSDIC) found the permafrost spans 23 million square kilometers in the Northern Hemisphere; around 25% of the land surface.

However, the arctic permafrost holds another secret. There is a significant quantity of carbon stored in this permafrost, as well as large quantities of methane. The trapped carbon originates from plant and organic remnants which did not fully decompose in the soils. Research predicts there are around 1,500 gigatons or 1.5 trillion tons of carbon which are trapped in this ice layer. Put another way, the amount of carbon trapped in permafrost is twice as much carbon currently in the atmosphere and four times as much as the carbon emitted by humans since the industrial revolution.?

Previously, the Arctic permafrost was classified as a carbon sink given how many greenhouse gases it was storing. However, new scientific research has found that due to global warming and the resulting permafrost thaw, the structures are emitting more carbon than they are absorbing.

Permafrost thaw occurs where the ice which acts as the cement for all of the rock and sediment begins to melt, causing these structures to fall apart as well as release the trapped carbon and greenhouse gases. The trapped methane, which is 28 times more potent than CO2, is also released, contributing to faster levels of climate change.?

As well as an environmental impact, permafrost thaw is having a large impact on communities who live in these regions, mainly because the very foundations under them are melting away. In a report by the Arctic Council, authors noted the severity of thawing:

"Thawing permafrost disrupts transportation and affects buildings and infrastructure such as pipelines, airports, and industrial facilities, as well as water and wastewater distribution systems."

What solutions do we have left to avoid the release of all this carbon? Some scientists believe that rewilding could be a key strategy to keeping our permafrost intact. The introduction of horses and bison as “eco-engineers” could help transform the arctic into grasslands.?

These large animals are capable of removing woody vegetation and trampling on the snow in search of winter forage, which creates a healthy breeding ground for grasslands. The benefits of grasslands are that they can block incoming solar energy, reducing the amount of heating the permafrost would be subject to. Furthermore, grasslands are an efficient form of carbon capture, and enable colder temperatures to permeate through the soil, keeping the permafrost cool.