Beware the thawing permafrost. Become a Video Lab member! http://bit.ly/video-lab In the coldest parts of the world, there’s a layer of soil that stays frozen all year. This layer is called permafrost; it exists mainly around the Arctic, and acts kind of like a giant freezer. As plants and animals in those regions die, some of them become preserved in this permafrost. But as human activity releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the permafrost is starting to thaw and shrink. That’s having some dramatic consequences — and not just for people who live in the Arctic. You can read more about the thawing Arctic permafrost here: https://www.vox.com/2017/9/6/16062174/permafrost-melting And you can learn more about how permafrost is melting specifically in Canada and the Nordic region here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ppp.687 https://ccin.ca/ccw/permafrost/future Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com/. Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H