Abstract
This much is clear: the Arctic is warming fast, and frozen soils are starting to thaw, often for the first time in thousands of years. But how this happens is as murky as the mud that oozes from permafrost when ice melts. As the temperature of the ground rises above freezing, microorganisms break down organic matter in the soil. Greenhouse gases — including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide — are released into the atmosphere, accelerating global warming. Soils in the permafrost region hold twice as much carbon as the atmosphere does — almost 1,600 billion tonnes.
Authors
Turetsky, M.R., Abbott, B.W., Jones, M.C., Anthony, K.W., Olefeldt, D., Schuur, E.A.G., Koven, C., McGuire, A.D., Grosse, G., Kuhry, P., Hugelius, G., Lawrence, D.M., Gibson, C. and A.B.K. Sannel
Year
2019
Journal
Nature
Citation
Turetsky, M.R., Abbott, B.W., Jones, M.C., Anthony, K.W., Olefeldt, D., Schuur, E.A.G., Koven, C., McGuire, A.D., Grosse, G., Kuhry, P., Hugelius, G., Lawrence, D.M., Gibson, C. and A.B.K. Sannel (2019): Permafrost collapse is accelerating carbon release. In: Nature 569, 32-34 (2019), doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01313-4
Link
IASC Related Activity
Permafrost Carbon Network