Insulating effect of deeper snow is thawing ancient carbon permafrost reserves, according to Oulu University, stating that human-caused climate change is altering snow cover in the Arctic; some regions with more, some with less.

Using the longest snow manipulation experiment in Arctic Alaska, new research from Finland reports that deeper snow has led to permafrost thaw and thus the release of ancient carbon into the modern atmosphere.

This amplification of carbon emissions taking place throughout the year may accelerate the progressive increase in atmospheric CO2 levels, global warming, and changes in the weather and climate of the north and beyond.

The research was led by University of the Arctic via University of Oulu and University of California.

“This is the first study to directly measure and ages - using isotope techniques - mobilized ancient carbon emissions year-round. And, it shows that deeper snow, a realistic climate scenario, and currently being observed in many stations around the Arctic, has the potential to relatively quickly mobilize carbon deep in the soil, that was previously frozen for thousands of years” says Jeff Welker, Professor in the Ecology and Genetics Research Program at the University of Oulu.

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