As the northern latitudes warm, ice is melting and vegetation is growing more abundant. But instead of absorbing more carbon, the region is becoming a source of heat-trapping gas, a new study shows.
The thaw of tundra is unleashing carbon, while the growth of forests means there is more vegetation available to burn in wildfires, according to the research, published in Nature Climate Change, which draws on data from across the Arctic and the boreal from 1990 to 2020. It found that roughly half of the region is growing greener, but only 12 percent of those greener areas are actually taking up more carbon.
While the far north has locked away carbon for thousands of years, with warming, roughly 40 percent of the region is now a source of carbon dioxide, the study found.
Read more at: Yale Environment 360
A lake near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, that turned brown after an extended heat wave. (Photo Credit: Vaclava Hazukova)
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