One-third of the Arctic’s tundra, forests and wetlands have become carbon sources. new research The researchers made the discovery as global heating disrupted thousands of years of carbon storage in the frozen North.
For thousands of years, Arctic terrestrial ecosystems have served to fast-freeze Earth’s carbon, retaining vast amounts of potential emissions in permafrost. However, the region’s ecosystem is increasingly People who contribute to global warming Because it emits more CO2 New study shows rising temperatures entering the atmosphere Published in Nature Climate Change conclusion.
More than 30% of the region was a net source of CO.2According to the analysis, if emissions from wildfires are included, this increases by 40%. This study uses monitoring data collected from 200 research sites from 1990 to 2020 to show how the Arctic’s boreal forests, wetlands and tundra are changing due to rapid warming.
“This is the first time these changes have been seen on such a large scale and cumulatively across the tundra. This is a very big deal,” said Sue Natali, study co-author and principal investigator at the Woodwell Climate Research Center.
Even though the Arctic is becoming greener, change is happening. “In one place I work in interior Alaska, when permafrost thaws, plants grow more, which can sometimes increase carbon storage,” Natali said. “But the permafrost continues to thaw and microorganisms take its place. There are really big pools of carbon in the ground and you can see things. Like the ground collapses. “You can visually see the changes in the landscape,” he said.
The Arctic has reached an unfortunate climate milestone.
The study comes amid growing concern among scientists about the natural processes that regulate Earth’s climate – processes that are affected by rising temperatures. Together, Earth’s oceans, forests, soils, and other natural carbon sinks absorb about half of human emissionsHowever, there are signs that these sinks may be under pressure.
Arctic ecosystems spanning Siberia, Alaska, the Nordic countries and Canada have been accumulating carbon for thousands of years, cooling the Earth’s atmosphere. As the Earth warms, researchers say the region’s carbon cycle is beginning to change and better monitoring is needed.
Anna Virkkala, lead author of the study, said: “Arctic soils have a lot of carbon. This is close to half of Earth’s soil carbon storage. That’s a lot more than what’s in the atmosphere. There is a huge potential reservoir that ideally should stay in the ground.
“As temperatures warm, so does the soil. In permafrost, most of the soil is completely frozen all year round. But now temperatures are warmer, more decomposable organic matter is available, and carbon is being released into the atmosphere. “This is the permafrost-carbon feedback, and this is the key driver here.”
