frozen Earth, be it ice, soil or even organic material
that has been frozen for two or more years.
Most of Alaska
and northern Canada has permafrost beneath a thin, active layer of soil.
Problem is, when permafrost does thaw, it can wreak havoc
on infrastructure and upend ecosystems.
Dr. Walter Anthony: Not all permafrost contains ice, but here in interior
Alaska, we have frozen soils with massive amounts of ice.
There are very large ice wedges - ice wedges as big as garages.
And so when that ice melts,
the ground surface collapses and the sinkholes can fill with water.
When that happens, new little ponds form- thermokarst ponds.
And as thermokarst ponds form, microbes in the soil feast
on the newly thawed organic material, releasing methane into the atmosphere -
an extremely potent, and flammable greenhouse gas.
These newly formed thermokarst ponds give us an insight
as to what is going to happen in the future.
Dr. Walter Anthony: What we're seeing at this lake is that the emissions are ten times
higher than the rest of the lakes and wetlands in the Arctic,
and it's being fueled by thawing permafrost.
Narration: Scientists are working with ABoVE and NASA's UAVSAR to study
how these lakes are evolving as the climate continues to warm.