# When Permafrost Thaws, Groundwater Can Carry Old Carbon Back Into the World

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/waterlines-how-water-shapes-our-world-7705638/when-permafrost-thaws-groundwater-can-carry-old-carbon-back-into-the-world
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/waterlines-how-water-shapes-our-world-7705638/when-permafrost-thaws-groundwater-can-carry-old-carbon-back-into-the-world.md
Podcast: [Waterlines: How Water Shapes Our World](https://stenobird.com/podcast/waterlines-how-water-shapes-our-world-7705638)
Published: 2026-07-06T04:08:02+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jaywen/episodes/When-Permafrost-Thaws--Groundwater-Can-Carry-Old-Carbon-Back-Into-the-World-e3ln05f
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/10f097620/podcast/play/122437231/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-6-6%2F0aae91ed-e1fe-cb2b-7bfb-483ae1abd2c1.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/waterlines-how-water-shapes-our-world-7705638/episodes/when-permafrost-thaws-groundwater-can-carry-old-carbon-back-into-the-world
Duration seconds: 665

## Resource

Takeaway: When permafrost thaws, old carbon can ride newly opened groundwater paths toward streams before the frozen ground is gone. Frozen ground is not just cold dirt; in Arctic landscapes, it can be a deep storage vault for ancient carbon and a plug that limits underground water movement. This episode follows a modeling study that asks what happens when that plug thaws and groundwater starts moving again. The answer matters for rivers, lakes, coastal waters, and climate: some carbon may be turned into greenhouse gases underground, while some may travel with groundwater into streams long before all the permafrost disappears. Hosts unpack the idea of a virtual experiment, why old carbon buried several meters down is hard to measure, and what field data scientists still need to make better forecasts for a warming Arctic. This episode uses AI-generated voices. Citation: Mohammed, A. A., Guimond, J. A., Bense, V. F., Jamieson, R. C., McKenzie, J. M., & Kurylyk, B. L. (2022). Mobilization of subsurface carbon pools driven by permafrost thaw and reactivation of groundwater flow: a virtual experiment. Environmental Research Letters, 17, 124036. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca701

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