Dr. Sue Natale discusses the omission of subterranean Arctic carbon emissions from global carbon budget calculations with host Stephen Lacey.
Prediction Held up
Natale: Permafrost thaw will reach 30% to 70% by 2100
“There's a, there's an Kind of a range of possibilities for how much permafrost will thaw, say, by 2100, and number of different, based on a number of different models, but the range always stays somewhere between 30 to 70%, something like that, and I think abo…”
Assertion Supported
Natale: Permafrost stores 1.5 trillion tons of carbon, double atmospheric levels
“It's about 1.5 trillion tons of carbon. So every tree and every forest on the planet, it's three times more carbon than that that's stored in permafrost. And almost twice as much carbon stored in permafrost than is in the atmosphere.”
Assertion Supported
Natale: 15% of Northern Hemisphere Land Area Underlain by Permafrost
“15% of the northern hemisphere land areas underlain by permafrost.”
Assertion Partly supported
Natale: Viable Seeds Thousands of Years Old Discovered in Permafrost
“They found seeds from permafrost that are still viable, that are thousands of years old.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Natale: Arctic Communities First Noticed Permafrost Thaw Through Collapsing Ice Cellars
“People who live on permafrost were, you know, the first ones really noticing what's happening because their ice cellars were, weren't functioning, right? And they were starting to collapse and the food, food was going bad and just, you know, meat that the peop…”
Assertion Supported
Natale: The Arctic is warming at least three times faster than global average
“It's, you know, warming at least three times faster than the rest of the planet in the Arctic”