permafrost

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It is as though the permafrost is a frozen block of fuel that we are holding a match to.

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Definitions (2)

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  1. noun Permanently frozen subsoil, occurring throughout the Polar Regions and locally in perennially frigid areas.

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Examples (38)

  • The water is locked up in permafrost, alas, but thermal vents from the warm core probably feed hot reservoirs below the chilly crust. —  F ;SF; - vol 092 issue 03 - March 1997
  • Though you should also worry that the methane might be coming the underwater permafrost, which is also thawing and releasing methane —  Climate Progress
  • We haven't talked about the shallow water methane hydrates which may become vulnerable to warmer oceans or the permafrost which is currently releasing more methane into the atmosphere. —  RealClimate
  • Rising temperatures are melting the permafrost, the layer of frozen ground beneath the surface. —  Popular Science
  • The estimated 1,672 billion metric tons of carbon locked up in the permafrost is more than double the 780 billion tons in the atmosphere today. —  PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories
 

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