Dalton Highway Permafrost Collapse

Permafrost can be over a half mile thick in Alaska and has just begun to collapse, emitting 2.3 gigatons CO2 annually on average from 2003 to 2017. If permafrost was stable and sequestering in 2003, and we know that the thaw is rapidly accelerating today, the annual emissions today are a far greater than 2.3 gigatons per year, and possible rival the 9 gigatons CO2 emissions emitted globally by the transportation sector. In addition methane emissions have yet to be quantified.