Climate Emergency Feedback Loops Permafrost Video

Susan Gray, Bonnie Waltch, Barry Hershey, Moving Still Productions

The video provides a comprehensive overview of what permafrost is and why it matters in the context of climate change. The video includes: The definition of permafrost, the geographic extent, defines the problem of warming and melting permafrost, compares the amount of permafrost carbon content to all the world's forests, describes how carbon dioxide and methane are released when permafrost melts, includes visuals showing feedback loop, shows field work being done in Alaska and subsequent lab analysis of permafrost cores, and shows time release images of ground collapse on a slope due to permafrost melting.

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Notes from our reviewers

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Consider using this video to introduce topics related to permafrost and positive feedback loops. This video may also be useful in introducing subjects such as microbial metabolism, restoration practices, and the differences in carbon sources. This resource could also be used to highlight how decomposers are involved in the global carbon cycle. This video is focused on negative aspects of climate change. Teachers may want to supplement with discussion about how to look at and work through the issue presented. There could also be much more discussion about what permafrost is, where it's located, and how it's formed.
This video uses expert scientists from places like the University of Cambridge to explain how microbial activity of thawing permafrost contributes to increased greenhouse gas emissions in arctic climates of the world. Accelerating positive feedback loops may also release pools of methane gas as permafrost thaws. Of special interest are the scenes showing scientists in the field collecting samples and later in the lab analyzing the samples / discussing the data. Although the video includes important scientific information, the provided solutions that include "greening the earth" are oversimplified and lack nuance. Teachers may want to supplement through discussion. Passed initial science review - expert science review pending.
Foundational science concepts related to systems are presented in the video. Students will need to have an understanding of feedback loops in order to fully understand the visuals of feedback loops shown in the video. Students will also need to have an introduction to atmospheric chemistry to understand heat trapping and residence times. This video contains a "permafrost discussion guide" under educational materials in the menu tab. The guide provides a summary of the video information and supports a discussion about how to proceed and manage permafrost in a time of climate change. It's not obvious where to find the teacher guide so teachers may want the direct link [link https://feedbackloopsclimate.com/educational-materials/.] This video and the accompanying materials present a challenging issue to discuss, permafrost melting, because we can do nothing about it directly. The best solution is to stop climate change. Digging into this more along with associated issues might make for an interesting class. The intro video would be helpful for students and educators to watch before diving into this video [link https://feedbackloopsclimate.com/introduction/]