Methane emissions proportional to permafrost carbon thawed in Arctic lakes since the 1950s

Methane emissions from thermokarst areas of lakes that have expanded over the past 60‘‰years were directly proportional to the mass of soil carbon inputs to the lakes from the erosion of thawing permafrost. Based on this evidence of landscape-scale permafrost carbon feedback, we estimate that 0.2 to 2.5‘‰Pg permafrost carbon was released as methane and carbon dioxide in thermokarst expansion zones of pan-Arctic lakes during the past 60‘‰years.