Based on the recent calculations climate change is more rapid in the Arctic than in any other region. Previously frozen ground is thawing and releasing substantial quantities of carbon which microbes can decompose. Microbes mineralize the carbon fraction and convert it to carbon dioxide and methane. Climate change models estimate that C released from thawing arctic permafrost might represent the largest future transfer of C from the biosphere to the atmosphere resulting in a positive feedback loop. In addition to CH₄ and CO₂ flux, thawing permafrost releases nitrogen which can result as nitrous oxide flux, another greenhouse gas with high climate warming potential.

Our interest is in understanding how microbes in the arctic soils respond to the warming on a molecular scale and what is the function and role of the microbial communities in production of greenhouse gases in the arctic. The tools used are based on high throughput sequencing of the community DNA and RNA i.e. metagenomics and metatranscriptomics. Read more from our webpage https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/molecular-environmental-biosciences/research/arctic-microbial-ecology