Christian Science Monitor: For thousands of years, a large percentage of the worlds carbon stores have been safely locked in permafrost, the frozen layer of soil and organic matter that covers much of the planets northernmost latitudes. But as temperatures rise and some permafrost melts, that carbon is being released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide at an alarming rate.
For some ancient permafrost, about half its carbon could decompose in just one week after a thaw, according to a new study by the US Geological Survey,...