Organic Carbon Runoff From Siberian Meltdown Poses Climate Questions

[hatrack]

June 21, 2005— Global warming could be about to give itself a big boost by freeing gigantic amounts of carbon that have been on ice in Siberia's vast peat lands, scientists warn. The release of carbon into streams from already thawing Siberian peat lands could potentially exacerbate global warming by adding a huge load of carbon into the atmosphere which, in turn, could ramp up the greenhouse effect.

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Depending on the watersheds and the amount of frozen peat they contain, it's possible that some streams will see as much as a 700-percent increase in dissolved organic carbon being released as the permafrost thaws, Frey said.

Theoretically, the carbon in the peat tea makes its way into the atmosphere via the Arctic Ocean, into which all the streams drain. In the ocean, carbon could be devoured by microbes, which repackage the carbon into carbon dioxide gas, and release it into the surface waters. From there, it diffuses it into the atmosphere, explained Dennis Hansell, an expert on nutrients in the Arctic Ocean and a professor at the University of Miami. But the global impact of the Siberian peat tea is not certain, he pointed out.

While there's little doubt that the permafrost is receding, it's less clear what the peat tea will do, Hansell said. "The question is, is that modern organic carbon being released, or old carbon," Hansell said. If it's recent carbon, that's good news, he said, because it means the carbon was recently extracted from the atmosphere and the releases will result in little or no net increase to the world's atmospheric carbon load. But if the peat tea is loaded with ancient carbon, it has the potential of adding a huge amount of carbon to the atmosphere, Hansell said."

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http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20050620/carbon.html

[sam sarrha]

1. when the Sea starts warming and detonating the Methane Hydrate

..at the end of the Ice Age warm water started flowing up to the poles.. it detonated the Methane Hydrate in Norway the resulting explosion threw many Cubic miles of dust into the air and set the end of the Ice age back 5000 years..

peat moss isn't our worst threat..

the Methane Hydrate in permafrost is a serious thing also, it is melting ..efforvessing... and releasing HUGE amounts of carbon.. the stuff around the oceans is what detonates.. one big one and we have Hydrate Winter for thousands of years.