About 15% of the Northern Hemisphere (11% of the Erth’s surface) is held by permafrost that stores between 25 and 50% of the soil’s organic carbon. Billions of tons of carbon caught in permafrost may be released into the atmosphere by the end of this century.

The map below exposes the extent and types of permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere.

Recent studies estimate that northern circumpolar permafrost soil carbon content equals approximately 1672 Pg. (1 Pg = 1015g). This estimation of the amount of carbon stored in permafrost soils is more than double the amount currently in the atmosphere.

A global temperature rise of 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) over contemporary levels would be enough to start the thawing of permafrost and release carbon dioxide. The release of carbon dioxide from permafrost soils may lead to a positive feedback cycle where warming releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The interactive map below shows changes in soil carbon created by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

According to the 5th report of IPCC, the temperature in the Arctic will increase between 1.5 and 2.5 °C by 2040 and with 2 to 7.5 °C by 2100. It matches the average annual emission rate of 4–8 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalents in 2011–2040 and yearly 10–16 billion tons of CO2 equivalents in 2011–2100 as a consequence of thawing permafrost.

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