Study shows thawing permafrost quickly turns into CO2, a climate concern
News Release Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and key academic partners including the University of Colorado Boulder have quantified how rapidly ancient permafrost decomposes upon thawing and how much carbon dioxide is produced in the process. Huge stores of organic carbon in permafrost soils -- frozen for hundreds to tens of thousands of years across high northern latitudes worldwide -- are currently isolated from the modern day carbon cycle. However, if thawed by changing climate conditions, wildfire, or other disturbances, this massive carbon reservoir could decompose and be emitted as the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane, or be carried as dissolved organic carbon to streams and rivers.
Save the date for this upcoming lecture:
Diane McKnight – “The McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica: Ecosystems waiting for water.”
107th Distinguished Research Lecture at the University of Colorado Boulder
Thursday, October 29, 2015 at 4:00 PM, UMC 235, CU-Boulder