As if the increased levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere were not enough to worry anyone silly, climate models predict that even if another drop of fossil fuels were never burned again, things would continue getting worse for quite awhile before they got better.

This is due to the feedback effect that has already been observed in several places in the world. One prime example are the “drunken forests” of Siberia. Though the permafrost that these spruce trees grow upon is always in a state of flux, the rate of melting has increased dramatically in recent years, causing a great deal of damage in areas where people have built upon the permafrost.

More importantly, there’s a great deal of methane trapped in that permafrost, as it melts, this gas that’s known to be 45 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, is released into the atmosphere, making it melt even faster.