Does the Earth wipe its own… GAS?!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Permafrost is any ground that has been frozen for years, storing carbon. When thawed, that carbon is released as a gas, CO2. It escapes into the atmosphere, traps heat, and worsens climate change. But there may be a counterpunch!!
Liwei Zhang and team from Beijing Normal University studied rivers on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. They tracked river chemistry and carbon fingerprints. The data revealed an overlooked chemical reaction!
Turns out thawed permafrost and bedrock scrubs CO2 before it ever escapes. A third gets locked away instead of wafting up as gas!
Thawing permafrost is still bad news. But at least nature is clenching its cheeks!
Zhang, L., Bufe, A., Dean, J. F., Rocher-Ros, G., Sponseller, R. A., Stanley, E. H., … & Battin, T. J. (2026). Rock weathering can counteract river CO2 emissions induced by permafrost thaw. Nature, 1-8.