Dave5

Permafrost emissions are the climate change issue that really keep me awake at night. Like wild fires we need to tap into the lived knowledge of the people who have inhabited that biome for centuries if we’re to stand any chance.

But according to Patrick Murphy, a field research technician with the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Massachusetts, it’s unclear how quickly that degradation is taking place. “Natural emissions from the permafrost are unknown, in the sense that we have a few measurements,” he said. Monitoring stations “have existed for decades at this point — but only in a few places.”

“I think Indigenous knowledge can be very powerful for getting attention on work and is a huge largely untapped resource and knowledge base.”