The chart above shows how the extent of ice, in million square kilometers, has gone down throughout the past thirty-six years. If the numbers continue to drop, there will be a drastic affect to the artic ecosystems. This could eventually put many plants and animals on the verge of extinction. Also, the average temperature of permafrost has greatly increased and has become warmer, thus, causing it to have already thawed in many places. Permafrost refers to a layer of soil or rock that is frozen all year round. A reason to be concerned about permafrost is because it has a lot of carbon trapped inside. As permafrost thaws, this carbon is released to the atmosphere in the form of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. This process leads to
