Characterizing methane emission hotspots from thawing permafrost

Methane (CH₄) emissions from climate-sensitive ecosystems within the northern permafrost region represent a potentially large but highly uncertain source, with current estimates spanning a factor of seven (11–75 Tg CH₄ yr⁻¹). Accelerating permafrost thaw threatens significant increases in pan-Arctic CH₄ emissions, amplifying the permafrost carbon feedback. We used airborne imaging spectroscopy with meter-scale spatial resolution and broad coverage to identify a previously undiscovered CH₄ emission hotspot adjacent to a thermokarst lake in interior Alaska. Hotspot emissions were confined to