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Carbon, trapped in frozen earth for tens of thousands of years
is seeping out of thawing permafrostthat lies beneath Arctic lakesis seeping out of thawing permafrostthat lies beneath Arctic lakes
It bubbles up as methane, a greenhouse gas much more potent than CO2.
In the fall, when lakes freeze and bubbles build up in pockets under the ice,
University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists measure these seeps, one lake at a time.
And occasionally demonstrate methane’s flammability …
Scientists: Whoa!
But there are many, many lakes.And in the wilds of Alaska,they can only visit so many on foot.
NASA’s ABoVE campaign combines their precise measurements from individual lakes
with data from satellites which can observe the whole Arctic,
so that we can estimate just how much methane these seeps will add to our atmosphere.
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