41 - Permafrosta
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Permafrost is soil that is permanently frozen for at least two consecutive years. The two last cards to be added to the Fresk after card 40 are potentially violent feedback loops or "climate bombs" which, if triggered, would cause us to lose control over the climate for good. Thermokarst are veritable bioreactors at the heart of the process of releasing frozen carbon: when the permafrost thaws, pieces of soil detach and fall into the water, bringing nutrients and carbon to the bacteria and plankton present in the sea, which degrade them into CO2 (in the water layers near the surface) and methane (CH4 -- in the oxygen-deprived depths).
1Cause
1Consequence
1Other possible cause
If we take the idea of energy conservation all the way, we can link the energy budget to the thawing of permafrost.
1Other possible consequence
The permafrost card can be linked either to Other GHGs or to Additional Greenhouse Effect. The Other GHGs card is about GHGs emitted by human activities, while the methane in permafrost is not of human origin.