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Monday, August 15, 2005:

Siberia's permafrost is melting 

Latest News Headlines 
Siberia's frozen peat is melting, according to Russian scientists. The peat bogs were formed about 11,000 years ago and have been generating methane ever since. Most of the methane has not entered the atmosphere as it has been trapped in permafrost, but with the bogs now thawing, huge quantities of the gas will be released. If the bogs dry out as they melt the methane will oxidise and enter the air as carbon dioxide, but if the bogs remain wet, methane will be released into the atmosphere unaltered. This is an even more serious scenario as methane is a greenhouse gas 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide. Melting permafrost has therefore been identified as a "major source of feedbacks that could accelerate climate change by releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere".

Read more: Climate warning as Siberia melts (New Scientist)

 
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