AIM Carbon launches unique experiment to solve permafrost thawing problem

AIM Carbon, with the participation of scientists from the Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Environmental Design and Research, has launched an unprecedented experiment to find a solution to the problem of permafrost thawing. The main goal of this project, which is being carried out with the support of the Melnichenko Foundation, is to test the hypothesis of carbon dioxide absorption by a highly productive pasture ecosystem in the permafrost zone.

Permafrost covers about 65% of Russia's territory and is a large reservoir of organic carbon. Due to global warming, the Earth is experiencing accelerated degradation of some of the cryolithozone, which in turn leads to the release of carbon and increased concentrations of CO2 and CH4 in the atmosphere. Emissions of methane, which has a much greater greenhouse gas potential than carbon dioxide, are particularly dangerous. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, methane is responsible for more than 25% of the warming that humanity now faces.

According to Igor Akhmerov, CEO of AIM Carbon, if the scientific hypothesis is confirmed, Russia will for the first time have the basis for creating a real solution to permafrost conservation:

"We believe that an approach that has already been successfully used in areas of mass animal grazing, such as in Africa, can be applied in the Arctic. This solution leads to an increase in soil carbon storage through controlled grazing procedures and regulations".

The experiment to find a systematic solution to the global problem of cryolithozone melting is divided into several stages and will be carried out using the latest technological developments, including UAVs. Yakutia, which is almost entirely in the permafrost zone, has been chosen as the site for the research project.