Human civilization depends on permafrost
Contains more carbon than released by humans since industrialization.
Permafrost is "a frozen foundation that this current society and civilization is built on" and everyone on Earth depends on it for storing vast amounts of carbon.
Boreal forest is the largest forest on Earth, consisting mostly of spruce, willow, quaking aspen, and birch trees.
Permafrost is a layer of permanently frozen earth that lies underneath the boreal forest. It is a "frozen foundation" that stores more than twice as much carbon as all human sources have ever released.
The boreal forest acts as a critical shield, protecting this permafrost from thawing and releasing greenhouse gases. A specific, ice-rich type of permafrost called Yedoma is particularly concerning because when it thaws, it releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
The following interview, hosted by Inside Climate News, features Edward Alexander, the senior arctic lead at the Woodwell Climate Research Center. He is also a member of the Gwich'in Indigenous tribe in Alaska and co-chairs the Gwich'in Council International.
A few nuggets of wisdom from the interview:
"The boreal forest is the largest forest on Earth."
The boreal forest itself contains a "stunning amount of carbon," equivalent to all the carbon released by human activity since industrialization.
The boreal forest is vital for the "cultural survival" and "basic existence" of many Indigenous communities in Alaska, Canada, and Russia.
Permafrost contains more than twice as much carbon as has ever been released by all human sources.
Nitrous oxide is 250 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon.
Yedoma, a specific, ice-rich type of permafrost, can be hundreds of meters deep and 150,000 to 200,000 years old.
A key factor in permafrost thaw is intense and deep forest fires that burn off the "duff layer" (an organic mat on the forest floor) that acts as insulation.
A single Yedoma deposit thawing could release more emissions than small countries; if all of it thaws, it would release more emissions than all countries combined.
