A survey across the Arctic has found that permafrost is releasing more carbon into the atmosphere than it is absorbing, causing the planet to warm even more. Areas of permafrost in northern regions are now releasing more carbon into the atmosphere than they are absorbing, causing the planet to warm even more, according to the first estimate of all three major greenhouse gases across the Arctic.

Frozen ground, or permafrost, which underlies 15 percent of the Northern Hemisphere and contains twice as much carbon as the atmosphere, has shrunk an estimated 7 percent in area over the past 50 years as it melts. Recent research suggests that the melting will slow… (Alec Luhn, more at newscientist.com)