According to a new study more than 100 billion tons of carbon locked in the permafrost could be released in the atmosphere over a century.

The report also said that there is no sudden or abrupt release of carbon in the atmosphere but it is a gradual process.

The report gives an understanding about the connection between permafrost and climate change.

Permafrost is a layer of permanently frozen Arctic and sub-Arctic soil. It covers about one quarter of the northern hemisphere’s land mass.

The report reveals that the permafrost will play an active role in accelerating climate change because the organic matter which was inaccessible to microbes now becomes available and they tend to break the organic matter which releases carbon in the atmosphere.

According to researchers there is about 1.2 to 1.4 million tons of carbon dioxide in the permafrost and it amounts to twice the total amount present in the atmosphere.

If this amount is released in the atmosphere over the decade or less then it is very dangerous.

Merritt Turetsky, an ecologist at the University of Guelph who is also part of the assessment said, “What we can safely say is that is not going to happen, there will be an effect, but it’s going to be more like a dial on the current system.”

From the previous studies and this assessment it is found that 5 to 15 percent of the permafrost is going to be released in the atmosphere over many decades and the rate of the release is determined by how fast the climate is warming, this warming is mainly attributed to fossil fuels.

It is also believed that by the year 2100, permafrost released will add around 0.27 degree Celsius warming in the atmosphere.

Ted Schuur, a biologist at Northern Arizona University, who led the assessment said, “This highlights the urgent need to think about human emissions and controlling those so that we don’t have additional emissions from places like the Arctic.”