Scientists issue warning about the Arctic with massive implications for the entire globe: 'We ignore [it] to our peril'
Increased microbial activity, thawing permafrost, and frequent wildfires have turned the Arctic from a carbon storage area into a net carbon emitter. In 2024 alone, wildfires north of the Arctic Circle released 42.3 million metric tons of CO2.
The past nine years have been the warmest on record in the Arctic, with 2024 marking the second-warmest year since 1900. These temperatures are causing the permafrost — permanently frozen ground that stores more than half of all carbon in Earth's soil — to thaw rapidly.
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"Think of it like a freezer," said Twila Moon, deputy lead scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center. "While that chicken's in your freezer, it's good to go for years, no worries. And as soon as you take it out, it's thawing, all the microbes are getting to work."
This shift has far-reaching implications for communities worldwide. As the Arctic warms, it disrupts global weather patterns and weakens Earth's natural cooling system.
"As we're heating up the Arctic, we're changing the way that our air flows around the planet, and we're actually making it easier for these blasts of Arctic air to come south," Moon explained.
The warming has already affected wildlife, with migratory tundra caribou populations declining by 65% over the past two to three decades. September 2024 marked the sixth-lowest sea ice extent in the 45-year satellite record.
"This landscape has been storing carbon for us for thousands of years, throughout the Industrial Revolution," Moon said. "[The Arctic] has done a lot of work of taking carbon up for us, instead of leaving it in the atmosphere."
Scientists are tracking carbon changes using ground stations and satellites, collecting data from 200 monitoring sites. This high-resolution monitoring helps researchers understand how different parts of the Arctic are responding.
Indigenous knowledge helps us understand and respond to Arctic changes. Canada's Ittaq Heritage and Research Centre teaches traditional hunting and harvesting skills while integrating modern technologies.
"Inuit hunters are the original researchers of their homelands," wrote Sherry Fox and Mike Jaypoody in the report. "Observation, monitoring, and research skills are all integral parts of being a hunter or harvester."
You can help by supporting organizations working on permafrost preservation, reducing your home energy use, and choosing products with lower carbon footprints. Even small actions add up when tackling significant challenges.
"This is really a new and different Arctic," Moon added. "We ignore the Arctic to our peril at this point."
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