Melting moment: as the permafrost thaws it releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Credit: CORBIS

Melting permafrost in Arctic regions is likely to accelerate global warming, as well as disrupting the lifestyle of indigenous people, researchers warned last week's meeting of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi.

A seventh of the Earth's carbon is stored in frozen Arctic soil, the scientists say, and huge amounts of greenhouse gases will be released into the atmosphere if rising temperatures cause the permafrost to melt and its organic material to be broken down by bacteria.

“There is now evidence that the permafrost in some areas is starting to give back its carbon,” Svein Tveitdal, director of UNEP's Global Resource Information Database in Arendal, Norway, told a meeting of UNEP's governing council.

Tveitdal also pointed to regional problems likely to be caused in Siberia, Scandinavia, northern Canada and Alaska by melting permafrost, which can trigger subsidence and damage buildings.

UNEP scientists fear that rising temperatures and melting of the permafrost may have an impact on Arctic wildlife such as reindeer, and on the traditional lifestyle of indigenous people in northern regions.

“In Canada's north, we are seeing dramatic changes that affect permafrost and sea ice, the latter of which has major implications for species on which the traditional Inuit life depends, such as polar bears and seals,” said David Anderson, Canada's environment minister and president of UNEP's governing council.

Delegates at the meeting criticized the lack of a unanimous political response to global climate change. “We are taking action domestically, but we need awareness and movement on the international front as well,” Anderson said.

The UNEP governing council is the main international forum for governments to address environmental policy issues. The meeting was attended by environment ministers from over 100 nations, along with scientists and representatives of non-governmental organizations and corporations.

Klaus Töpfer, executive director of UNEP, told the meeting that the time for talk had ended, and the time had come for delivering environmental action. “We do not need new priorities or new visions,” he told the Nairobi meeting. “What we need to do now is to implement.”