Episode 3: Impermafrost
Episode Length: 29:27
Focus
What is permafrost and what effect does thawing permafrost have on carbon emissions?
Location
Sweden
Keywords
permafrost, carbon stores, climate change
Episode Outline
These outlines are intended to help you locate ideas and topics more easily, but these are narrative episodes with many interlocking themes and ideas, so you may want to share segments that cross multiple points in the outline.
MINUTES: 00:00 - 05:49
Basic facts about carbon and why the amount of carbon in the atmosphere is so important to understanding what is happening in the Arctic.
05:50 - 08:09
What permafrost is and why its thawing is threatening the Arctic?
08:10 - 10:42
Permafrost as a carbon store for the planet that benefits all of us:
Thawing releases more carbon into the atmosphere
10:43 -15:02
Microbes in the soil break down things after they die, respiring CO2 and putting more carbon in the atmosphere:
Human-caused emissions are dwarfed by the amount of carbon in soil, a giant reservoir of greenhouse gasses that hasn’t been factored into global climate agreements
BREAK
15:03 - 22:00
Scientists trying to determine what microbes are eating and how much carbon is being emitted into atmosphere.
22:01 - 25:07
Many variables in determining how much carbon is stored in the ground, which is why these amounts have not been included in major climate agreements:
Scientists trying to figure this out so we can update models and agreements to account for this carbon
25:08 - 29:27
We don’t know how close we are to a big release of carbon from the soil into the atmosphere:
Climate change accelerates natural processes and small shifts can make a big difference in the Arctic