Permafrost, Not So Permanent!

What is permafrost? Just looking at the word, it seems like it would have to do with permanent frost, right? Well the technical definition is earth that has been frozen permanently, but permafrost in the Arctic regions is now starting to melt. But how can it melt if it is supposed to be frozen permanently? Well recently, climate change has been making things a bit more complicated. Temperatures are rising unnaturally, causing the permafrost to melt. Permafrost isn’t like typical ice that is melting from climate change. You see, as permafrost is created, frozen soil carbon gets buried underneath it. Imagine that the frozen soil carbon is the rocks that are sprinkled on the sidewalk during winter. As more ice collects on the sidewalk, the rocks get stuck underneath the layer of ice. The main difference between the rocks and the soil carbon is that when the ice eventually melts, the rocks are still in their original form and can be scooped up for next winter. When the permafrost thaws, the soil carbon gets released in the form of an organic vapor. This organic vapor is also known as a VOC (volatile organic compound). These volatile organic compounds affect regions’ climates, as well as the climate on a global scale. They also have an effect on the quality of our air. 

Due to the importance of volatile organic compounds in permafrost, you’d think that there has been plenty of research done on the topic, but the contrary is true. Tere have not been many studies conducted, but one group of researchers did conduct a study on the matter with a sample of permafrost from Lapland, Finland. They collected the sample and placed it in a container that acted like the natural environment the sample was used to being in. The researchers were able to change the temperature of the container, and overtime they raised the temperature to act like climate change. They started the temperature at 0 degrees Celsius, and eventually they raised it to 5 degrees Celsius. Later on in the study they raised it once more to 15 degrees Celsius. The researchers then measured the emissions of the volatile organic compounds. They found that moderate amounts of the VOCs were released when the temperature was set to 0 degrees Celsius. When the temperature was increased, more of the volatile organic compounds were emitted.

You may be wondering how any of this would have an effect on your life. The researchers studied how much vapor (or VOCs) came from the permafrost as it thawed, but so what? Well, as I mentioned before, the vapors (or volatile organic compounds) affect our air quality and multiple climates. In certain regions of the planet, they may also affect the processes of our atmosphere. The temperature changes in the study were done in order to mimic climate change. So, the study has shown that as our planet gets warmer due to climate change, more of these volatile organic compounds will be released from the permafrost and affect our planet.

Haiyan Li et al 2020 Environ. Res. Lett. 15 104097