India, April 23 -- Increasing temperatures thawing permafrost, exposing substantial quantities of organic carbon and atmospheric release of greenhouse gases

The northern permafrost region is emitting more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than it is capturing, a new study has found. Historically, permafrost or permanently frozen ground has been one of the largest terrestrial carbon and nitrogen pools. However, the new research suggests that this region, a quarter of the northern hemisphere, is projected to shift from a net sink to a net source of carbon under global warming.

In the study published in journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles , researchers have prepared a first ever comprehensive estimation of quantities of emission and ca...