Permafrost---It's Goin' To Be A Long Time Gone

                                           Computer model showing Permafrost shrinking 
                            and then completely disappearing from the Arctic by the year 2300, 
                                     and releasing huge amounts of carbon to the atmosphere


Does anyone remember that old Crosby Stills Nash and Young song from 1969 called "Long Time Gone."  That song is all about permafrost.   No, really---just look at the lyrics:

It's been a long time comin'     

It's goin' to be a long time gone

You can smell somethin' burnin'     

But you don't know who lit the fire

You can feel pavement getting' hotter     

You can see flames as high

There's somethin' goin' on around here     

That surely, surely won't stand the light of day

Speak out, speak out against the madness     

Speak your mind if you dare

It's been a long time comin'   

It's goin' to be a long time gone

But you know that the darkest hour     

Is always just before the dawn

Crosby Still Nash and Young's lament about the future of permafrost perfectly captures the scientific issues. Permafrost is a long time coming---it forms in the soil in the Arctic after millennia of cold temperatures. Permafrost in northern Alaska is as much as 800 m (2400 feet) thick, and in northern Siberia it reaches thicknesses of 1200 m (3600 feet). These extremely thick zones of permafrost probably took several million years to form.

And when Global Warming heats the Arctic to the point that the last Permafrost melts, it will be a long time gone. Permafrost is already warming and thawing along its southern margin in Alaska and Siberia. The southern margin of the permafrost zone will move north and the total area with permafrost will shrink until by the year 2300 the last permafrost will melt.  

So why care about permafrost? If you live in the Arctic the coming thaw of permafrost means the landscape will literally melt and shrink around you. Roads will buckle and homes and buildings will tilt and crack as the soil thaws under them. Frozen seacoasts will melt into the sea and coastlines will rapidly retreat.

If you don't live in the Arctic thawing permafrost will affect you too, as millions of tons of carbon are frozen in permafrost in Arctic soils. As the permafrost thaws, all that carbon will be released into the atmosphere, magnifying the Greenhouse effect and accelerating Global Warming around the rest of the planet.

Speak out, speak out against the madness. Global Warming will be a huge disaster for the entire planet. You can smell somethin' burnin'  But you don't know who lit the fire  You can feel pavement getting' hotter  You can see flames as high.  

Something must be done.   Speak your mind if you dare.

And don't lose hope. Never lose hope. There is always a chance that my CO2 Antarctic Pumpdown concept or one of the other geoengineering ideas already put forward or perhaps a new one yet to be devised will be able to counteract Global Warming. Don't lose hope and remember----the darkest hour is always just before the dawn.