Hundreds of wildfires burning in Alaska and Canada are starting to have a big effect on our climate. With over 3 million acres ablaze, 600 fires in Alaska and more than 4,000 wildfires in Canada, the permafrost could be doomed to start defrosting even more than it already is.
Permafrost stores a massive amount of carbon dioxide and it should never increase in temperature over freezing lest it start to melt and start to release that CO2 into the atmosphere and in turn increase our planet’s climate change.
According to a report by Climate Central, the fire season in Alaska has increased in length over 40% longer than it was 50 years ago. Alaska is also warming twice as fast as other states – last year being its hottest season on record.
All of the permafrost worldwide stores an estimate 1.4 trillion tons of carbon. That is twice the amount in our atmosphere presently. Imagine what will happen if these tons of carbon dioxide start to be released on a massive scale into the atmosphere …
More carbon in the atmosphere could lead to more severe weather events – more storms (with increased severity), more fires, etc. Climate change is a scientifically proven fact. How bad it becomes … well, that could be determined by events such as this — as well as other things we have more control over. What can you do to help reduce our carbon footprint?
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