What happens when the permafrost thaws? | BBC Ideas

Around 11% of the Earth's land mass is covered by permafrost. But its delicate balance is being threatened by climate change.

Video by Daniel Nils Roberts. Made in partnership with @royalsociety


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[mkrj]

And most people will vote for the next leader who promises them the cheapest oil.

[mrsjamessmom]

I've been banging the gong about this issue for a few years. Not to mention the ancient viruses and fungi that has been tucked away under the permafrost.

[Tormekia]

The fact that we can notice the change in a human lifetime should scare the shit out of everyone. Eeek.

[kenwallace]

Seems like a positive feedback loop with unknown limits, including extinction level temperature rise.

[Alex-kwkb]

We are staring down the barrel of several major tipping points. Glaciers worldwide are shrinking, both polar icecaps are receding, the permafrost isn't staying permanently frosty. The sooner we get away from coal, gas and oil the better ... but it is probably too late. The global disruption that is coming will start as a trickle, but will end in a flood. Where does the bulk of humanity live? Near coasts. Which areas will be hit the hardest and the soonest? Near the coasts. Time to buy a houseboat.

[EattheApple]

To bad Scientists didn't warn us about this in the 1950s.... oh wait. My bad.

[phil_]

And the mycelium shall inherit the Earth (and eat the rich.) 😃

[grahamkearnon]

The human animal has spent some centuries first stripping the land of trees, the use & abuse of the Oceans came next, quickly followed by the atmosphere. The young lady researcher gave an honest answer ie NO. The poisen mix is now upon us, 30 yrs for normal life.

[OldScientist]

When it comes to tipping points this is what the IPCC (Special Report on implications of 1.5C or more warming, Chapter 3) says:“there is little evidence for a tipping point in the transition from perennial to seasonal ice cover. No evidence has been found for irreversibility or tipping points, suggesting that year-round sea ice will return given a suitable climate”. The IPCC also do not believe the melting of the arctic permafrost will cause a tipping point in the release of warming methane gas “the carbon released to the atmosphere from thawing permafrost is projected to be restricted to 0.09–0.19 Gt C yr–1 at 2°C of global warming and to 0.08–0.16 Gt C yr–1 at 1.5°C, which does not indicate a tipping point”.
The Earth's climate is a multi input thermodynamic system and will conform to Le Chatelier's Principle.

[mralekito]

Yet another Climate video ends on “hope”.

Yes, let’s “hope” the ice doesn’t melt.

[phil]

Those who contributed least to our problems sacrifice the most to their way of life, those living in the far north, those living on low elevation islands, diverse animals in the rainforests. It's our new sad reality. Too few at the top are willing to change their way of life as we watch the slow decline of life on earth.

[nqeuzqr]

What the average person does not understand and they really do need to know this and take heed, is that the damage is done . Even if tomorrow we stopped all CO2 being admitted into the atmosphere it would not have any desired affect. The best scenario is it would slow down a little bit. It's like a start of a long marathon once the starting shot was fired it's already to late. The feedback loop is already in affect. Once the global atmosphere goes passed a certain point which it has already, its just a long slope to global change in land and sea. The earth will still be here just not the same as we know it now. Coastline, mass migration inland, and as always in every disaster the poor will suffer and probably die first. Agricultural land will be affected greatly, meaning starvation on a mass scale. If you are under the age of 20 you will witness these changes with your own eyes. What we are witnessing now is the just a small footnote of the horror to come.

[willelrics]

The Planet will be Fine, with or without us. It's our choice.

[thomashughes_teh]

In the future the survivors will reference the tipping point years when things happened faster than could be managed and a killer heat belt split the planet into north and south habitable zones.

[AWalkWithWhizzy]

Permafrost is so important to our survival. I remember learning about it when I was 7 and I am 62. So in 55 years, the permafrost is melting.

[seanreid]

This is not telling you that methane is 20 times worse than CO2

[FMFvideos]

I guess the permafrost wasn't so permanent..

[karylhogan]

I read in irish times newspaper that cork university which has kept a yearly account of the Gulf Stream, stated that Gulf Stream has slowed 12% since records began in 1988.
In scientific America future climatic warming changes on there models all show a reduction in Gulf Stream..
But it’s happening since 1988 at least…

[endlessadventure]

Carbon and methane continue to march up and up. We continue to destroy our forests. Nothing has changed.

[VulcanData]

Another Great Documentary To Watch Is Nova: Arctic Sinkholes