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Benjamin Stocker

Postdoctoral research fellow, Centre for Research on Ecology & Forestry Applications (CREAF), Spain

Expertise: Carbon cycle, Climate feedbacks, Land use change, Terrestrial biosphere, Palaeo-climatology

Washington Post accurately covers permafrost study, albeit under a somewhat sensational headline

The article accurately described a study indicating that more of the carbon released from thawing permafrost will be released as methane and provided context on its overall implications by quoting comments from two other researchers. The article’s headline, however, may mislead readers through the use of the sensational phrase “the Arctic’s carbon bomb”, which calls to mind a catastrophic, explosive release of greenhouse gas.