Arctic thaw could prompt huge release of carbon dioxide (initially offset by plants)

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090527/full/news.2009.513.html

Published online 27 May 2009 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2009.513

News

Arctic thaw could prompt huge release of carbon dioxide

But plant growth initially offsets permafrost carbon release.

Anjali Nayar

Thawing Arctic soils could release a billion tonnes of carbon every year by the end of this century, new evidence from test plots in Alaska suggests.

The study by researchers in the United States is one of the first to use radiocarbon dating to calculate the rate of carbon loss from melting tundra soils in situ.

"Previous studies have calculated carbon loss as tundra thaws in the laboratory," says Edward Schuur from the University of Florida in Gainesville, who led the research. "This study is different because we measured the ecosystem response in the real world."

Scientists have long debated how the global climate might be affected by thawing of the Arctic's permanently frozen soils, known as permafrost. When permafrost melts, microbes decompose organic matter in the soil, producing greenhouse gases. But when plants have access to warmer, deeper soils, they grow faster and take in carbon dioxide. Scientists have postulated that CO₂ release by microbes would outweigh any greening of the Arctic by plant life, but the precise balance between the two was not known, says Schuur.

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[hatrack]

1. Oops!

nt

[villager]

2. Oops! Earth's done it again! (In terms of extinction events - this time abetted by us!)

n/t

[Dead_Parrot]

3. Offset? Woohoo!

No need to rush into anything, then.

[JohnWxy]

4. recommended. This is why we don't have 20 years to get a 10% - 20% reduction in gas consumption.