A new research, co-authored by NASA scientists details how and where greenhouse gases are escaping from Earth’s permafrost region as the Arctic warms. The findings reveal that the region which has locked carbon underground for millennia was now being a “net source of greenhouse gas emissions”. An international team of scientists, led by researchers at Stockholm University said the landscape was in flux and could have a serious impact on the health of the planet after tracking the emissions using ground-based instruments, aircraft, and satellites.

The study, undertaken as part of the Global Carbon Project’s RECCAP-2 effort, found that between 2000 and 2020, the region took up a fraction more carbon dioxide than it released. The region’s lakes and wetlands were strong sources of methane during the two decades.

Overall, the region has been a net contributor to global warming, largely due to other greenhouse gas, methane, which has a lifespan of 10 years but traps significantly more heat per molecule than carbon dioxide which can last hundreds of years in the atmosphere.

“We know that the permafrost region has captured and stored carbon for tens of thousands of years. But what we are finding now is that climate-driven changes are tipping the balance toward permafrost being a net source of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Abhishek Chatterjee, a co-author and scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

“This study is one of the first where we are able to integrate different methods and datasets to put together this very comprehensive greenhouse gas budget into one report,” he added.

The researchers said, “unlocking a fraction of the carbon stored in permafrost could further fuel climate change”. They also cautioned that extreme wildfires and heat waves remain major sources of uncertainty when projecting the future.

Also read | Frozen Time Bomb? Permafrost Thawing Below The Arctic Raises Alarm

What is permafrost?

Permafrost is ground that has been permanently frozen for anywhere from two years to hundreds of thousands of years. Earth’s northern region, encircling the Arctic from Alaska to Canada to Siberia stores twice as much carbon as currently resides in the atmosphere.

However, temperatures in the Arctic are warming two to four times faster than the global average. The thawing permafrost is shifting the region from being a net sink for greenhouse gases to becoming a net source of warming.

London:

Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) announced its sponsorship of the London Science Museum’s (LSM) latest exhibit, the ‘Energy Revolution’ gallery on Tuesday, in a partnership aimed at highlighting the global transition towards renewable energy.

The unveiling of the gallery marks a significant step towards raising awareness about the pressing need to combat climate change through sustainable energy practices.

Oliver Carpenter, the Curator of Infrastructure and Built Environment at the Science Museum in London, shared insights regarding the significance of the ‘Energy Revolution’ gallery and the pivotal role it plays in addressing the climate crisis.

In an interview with the news agency ANI, Mr Carpenter articulated the essence of the gallery, stating, “It’s a gallery about the most pressing issue of our times, which is in order to avert the worst impacts of climate change, we need to urgently transition towards lower carbon, sources and uses of energy.”

“So in this gallery, we have a real mixture of striking displays of contemporary technology and some historic objects from the Science Museum’s collections,” he further said.

“We care for millions of objects so we’ve brought out some of the latest and greatest for this display along with some of the stories and objects that talk about some of the history of the current low-carbon energy transition,” he added.

Mr Carpenter further elaborated on the diverse displays featured in the gallery, ranging from contemporary technology to historic artefacts, all of which underscore the imperative of embracing renewable energy solutions.

Reflecting on the genesis of the gallery, Mr Carpenter emphasised the critical importance of the current decade in catalysing global action towards sustainability.

He highlighted the role of low-carbon energy sources, such as solar, wind, and nuclear energy, in shaping a more sustainable future.

Mr Carpenter said, “We’re in a really crucial decade for action around the world and if we can seize the opportunity now to make use of these great low-carbon energy sources from solar to wind to maybe nuclear energy to different forms of low-carbon energy sources and transition towards those and then use that energy around our everyday lives from moving around from transport to the way we build and heat and cool our buildings in lower carbon ways, then we can reduce the impact of humans on the planet and move towards a more sustainable future.”

He added, “And that’s what this gallery really highlights, those stories from the UK and from around the world where people or individuals or communities, companies are imagining these lower carbon futures and the actions they’re taking to achieve their aims.”

The gallery, he explained, showcases stories from around the world where individuals, communities, and companies are spearheading initiatives to embrace lower carbon futures and reduce humanity’s impact on the planet.

In response to a query regarding Adani Green Energy’s contribution, Mr Carpenter highlighted the company’s commitment to renewable energy and low-carbon technologies.

He emphasized how AGEL’s sponsorship of the gallery aligns with its ambitions to become a leading renewable energy company and underscores the themes celebrated within the exhibition.

Adani Green Energy’s sponsorship of the ‘Energy Revolution’ gallery signifies a significant commitment to advancing the discourse on renewable energy transition and promoting sustainable practices on a global scale.

Mr Carpenter said, “Adani Green Energy, they are a renewable energy company and they’re heavily invested in low-carbon technologies, energy technologies.”

He further said, “And so this gallery takes some low-carbon energy technologies and highlights how they can play a key role in the future of a low-carbon energy system. their ambitions to be a very large renewable energy company and the ideas and the themes of this gallery, so they’re sponsoring the gallery.”

As visitors explore the gallery, they are invited to envision a future powered by clean and renewable energy sources, thereby contributing to collective efforts to combat climate change.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)