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Climate change and the permafrost carbon feedback

Abstract

Large quantities of organic carbon are stored in frozen soils (permafrost) within Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. A warming climate can induce environmental changes that accelerate the microbial breakdown of organic carbon and the release of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane. This feedback can accelerate climate change, but the magnitude and timing of greenhouse gas emission from these regions and their impact on climate change remain uncertain. Here we find that current evidence suggests a gradual and prolonged release of greenhouse gas emissions in a warming climate and present a research strategy with which to target poorly understood aspects of permafrost carbon dynamics.

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Figure 1: Soil organic carbon maps.
Figure 2: Potential cumulative carbon release.
Figure 3: Model estimates of potential cumulative carbon release from thawing permafrost by 2100, 2200, and 2300.
Figure 4: Abundance of abrupt thaw features in lowland and upland settings in Alaska.

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Acknowledgements

Initial funding was provided by the National Science Foundation Vulnerability of Permafrost Carbon Research Coordination Network Grant number 955713, with continued support from the National Science Foundation Research, Synthesis, and Knowledge Transfer in a Changing Arctic: Science Support for the Study of Environmental Arctic Change Grant number 1331083. Author contributions were also supported by grants to individuals: Department of Energy Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Sciences Division Terrestrial Ecosystem Sciences program (DE-SC0006982) to E.A.G.S.; National Science Foundation Long Term Ecological Research Program (1026415) to A.D.M.; Department of Energy (DE-AC02-05CH11231, NGEE Arctic, BGC-Feedbacks SFA) to C.D.K.; Regional and Global Climate Modeling Program (RGCM) of the US Department of Energy’s Office of Science (BER) Cooperative Agreement (DE-FC02-97ER62402) to D.M.L.; European Research Commission (338335) to G.G.; The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (863.12.004) to J.E.V.; National Science Foundation Polar Programs (1312402) to S.M.N.; National Science Foundation Polar Programs (856864 and 1304271) to V.E.R.; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NA09OAR4310063) and National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NNX10AR63G) to K.S.; Nordforsk (DEFROST; 23001), EU FP7 (PAGE21; 282700) and FORMAS (Bolin Climate Research Centre; 214-2006-1749) to G.H. and P.K.; Department of Energy Biological and Environmental Research (3ERKP818) to D.J.H.; National Science Foundation, Division of Environmental Biology (724514, 830997) to M.R.T. and A.D.M.; U.S. Geological Survey Climate and Land Use Program to J.W.H. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government.

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This manuscript arose from the collective effort of the Permafrost Carbon Network (http://www.permafrostcarbon.org); all authors are working group leaders within the network. E.A.G.S. and A.D.M. wrote the initial draft, with additional contributions from all authors. C.S. provided assistance with final editing and submission of the manuscript, and helped to organise the Permafrost Carbon Network activities that made this possible. Figure 1 was prepared by G.H., Fig. 2 by C.S., Fig. 3 by K.S., Fig. 4 by G.G. and the Box 1 Figure by E.A.G.S.

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Correspondence to E. A. G. Schuur.

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Schuur, E., McGuire, A., Schädel, C. et al. Climate change and the permafrost carbon feedback. Nature 520, 171–179 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14338

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