University of Florida Assistant Professor Edward Schuur and an international team of co-authors said they expect the thawing of permafrost in northern latitudes, which would increase microbial decomposition of carbon compounds in soil, will dominate other effects of warming in the region and could become a major force promoting the release of carbon dioxide and exacerbate further warming.

The researchers said their finding more than doubles previous estimates of the amount of carbon in the permafrost and the new figure is equivalent to twice the total amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The authors conclude that releases of the gas from melting permafrost could amount to roughly half those resulting from global land-use change during this century.

The research appears in the journal BioScience.

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