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frozen Earth, be it ice, soil
or even organic material

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that has been frozen for two
or more years.

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Most of Alaska

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and northern Canada has permafrost beneath
a thin, active layer of soil.

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Problem is, when permafrost does
thaw, it can wreak havoc

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on infrastructure and upend ecosystems.

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Dr.  Walter Anthony: Not all permafrost contains ice,
but here in interior

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Alaska, we have frozen soils
with massive amounts of ice.

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There are very large
ice wedges - ice wedges as big as garages.

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And so when that ice melts,

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the ground surface collapses
and the sinkholes can fill with water.

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When that happens, new little ponds
form- thermokarst ponds.

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And as thermokarst ponds form, microbes
in the soil feast

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on the newly thawed organic material,
releasing methane into the atmosphere -

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an extremely potent,
and flammable greenhouse gas.

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These newly formed thermokarst ponds
give us an insight

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as to what is going to happen in the future.

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Dr. Walter Anthony: What we're seeing at this lake
is that the emissions are ten times

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higher than the rest of the lakes
and wetlands in the Arctic,

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and it's being fueled by thawing
permafrost.

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Narration: Scientists are working with ABoVE
and NASA's UAVSAR to study

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how these lakes are evolving
as the climate continues to warm.