Open AccessExploring the effects of climate change on northern soil carbon
Author(s) -
Schultz Colin
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2011eo400016
Subject(s) - permafrost , tundra , carbon cycle , climate change , global warming , carbon sink , environmental science , ecosystem , peat , global change , soil carbon , carbon fibers , carbon dioxide in earth's atmosphere , carbon dioxide , boreal , sink (geography) , global temperature , atmospheric sciences , ecology , geography , soil science , soil water , geology , biology , materials science , cartography , composite number , composite material
Over recent millennia, northern ecosystems have been an important sink for the global carbon cycle, with vast quantities of carbon slowly accumulating and becoming trapped within thick layers of permafrost or peat. Some scientists have raised the prospect that global warming will free this carbon from its icy prison, with devastating effects on the global climate. However, researchers have identified a number of dynamic feedback systems that drive boreal and tundra ecosystems, suggesting that the fate of the 1400–1850 petagrams of stored carbon—enough to raise atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations by 660–870 parts per million if ever fully released—is much less certain.