The carbon dioxide contained in the polar caps is estimated to be 1,672 billion metric tons. The slow but steady melting of the polar regions from global warming has and will continue to release more carbon as carbon dioxide as the ice sheets melt.More interesting and more potentially dangerous is the effect that melting ice sheets can have on the microbes and bacteria that live in the permafrost. There are literally thousands if not millions of unknown species of microbes and bacteria that inhabit the permafrost.
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