‘The Arctic is the most sensitive area of the planet to climate change. While global average temperature has risen by around 0.8 degrees, some parts of Siberia, the frontiers of the world, have warmed by as much as 5 or 6.’ Now, the ground freezes here behind usual schedule. It now freezes later and later in the year. In some areas, the ground does not freeze at all.

Siberia had been known to be a place of ‘eternal ice.’ Its landscape rests on frozen ground called ‘permafrost,’ but the situation is changing. Siberia is observed to be melting as the ground begins to thaw. ‘Off the coast, whole islands made of permafrost are literally disappearing as the arctic sea washes away the rapidly melting land. Melting permafrost is causing roads, pipelines and foundations to collapse across the country. Every year, there’s an increase in the area of ground that melts in summer and the area that doesn’t refreeze in winter.’

Another serious concern is the permafrost itself. This is ‘like a giant frozen compost heap – full of dead plants, animals, trees and other carbon-rich organic matter, and in places it reaches 1.5km (one mile) deep.’ When frozen, its carbon content is locked up in the ground. With the Arctic warming and the permafrost melting, ‘microbes start to break down that organic matter, releasing carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.’

The danger now is that methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that speeds up global warming. It is more potent and disastrous than carbon dioxide, the more popularly known cause of global warming. Methane is approximately 25 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2.

Via Greenpeace