Alaska’s Newest Lakes Are Belching Methane!

According to scientists, this lake wasn’t even here 50 years ago!

Katey Walter Anthony who is an ecologist at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks dips her paddle and kayaks across the lake. She says that years ago, this Alaskan lake used to be 3 meters taller and used to be a forest! Very surprising!

Big Trail Lake is the name of this surprising lake! This lake was formed by permafrost thaw. Permafrost is ground that stays frozen all year round. The permafrost which could be found inner in Alaska has massive wedges of ice which is locked within the frozen ground. When that ice underneath melts for whatever reason, the ground surface collapses and then forms a sinkhole which then fills with water! This is how a thermokarst lake is born!

Walter Anthony is a scientist teaming up with NASA’s Cold Boreal Weakness Trial (ABoVE) project. She’s concentrating on the development of these thermokarst lakes and how this interaction is brought about by and adds to Earth’s evolving environment.

Let’s stop pollution and make our Earth a better place to live for future generations to come!

Author: Sri Nihal Tammana

Source: NASA

PC: NASA / Katie Jepson