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| New knowledge about permafrost improving climate models, researchers say |
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.jpg) According to a study from the Center for Permafrost (CENPERM) at the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management at the University of Copenhagen, copious amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) may be released from the thawing of permafrost. Scientists postulate that this new finding will greatly improve the accuracy of future climate models. The study, “Long-term CO2 production following permafrost thaw,” was published on July 28 in the journal Nature Climate Change.
According to researchers at the University of Copenhagen, permafrost consists of sediment and soil layers that freeze for two or more years in a row, with an “active layer” (top layer) that thaws only during the summer months. Huge amounts of organic matter build up over several thousand years via the accumulation of new materials and new active layers by natural depositing processes (wind, rain, animal and plant effluents, et cetera). As the freezing temperatures typically result in a slow rate of decomposition of CO2 in the organic materials contained within the permafrost, the danger of having CO2 and other gases (especially methane) released into the atmosphere emerges when the permafrost begins to thaw – which has been observed in recent decades.
According to scientists involved in the study, this phenomenon is poorly documented, and what has been documented centers on measurements of the release of CO2 in short-term studies ranging from 3-4 months. However, the findings of the newly-published study are based on a 12-year period of measurements of this phenomenon.
According to Professor Bo Elberling, Director of CENPERM (Centre for Permafrost) at the University of Copenhagen, “From a climate change perspective, it makes a huge difference whether it takes 10 or 100 years to release, e.g., half the permafrost carbon pool. We have demonstrated that the supply of oxygen in connection with drainage or drying is essential for a rapid release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.”
Commenting on the results of the study, Elberling said, “It is thought-provoking that microorganisms are behind the entire problem – microorganisms which break down the carbon pool and which are apparently already present in the permafrost. One of the critical decisive factors – the water content – is in the same way linked to the original high content of ice in most permafrost samples. Yes, the temperature is increasing, and the permafrost is thawing, but it is, still, the characteristics of the permafrost which determine the long-term release of carbon dioxide.”
While the CENPERM studies are performed at the Zackenberg research station in northeast Greenland, samples of permafrost from Svalbard and Canada yielded similarly-alarming results.
(Source: Science Recorder)
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