Greenland - global warming

Cab driver Lars Thomsen stands above a huge gap in the ground in Ilulissat in Greenland. The gap is a result of thawing permafrost, a disaster in the making. The peat in arctic areas contain vast amounts of methane, kept in the ground by the permanent frost – permafrost. With the heating of the planet, the methane is now released into the atmosphere, further accelerating the global warming. The methane is shortlived compared to CO2, but is 72 times more damaging. That is if measured over 20 yea (Photo by Orjan F. Ellingvag/Corbis via Getty Images)