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Permafrost collapse is accelerating carbon release

The sudden collapse of thawing soils in the Arctic might double the warming from greenhouse gases released from tundra, warn Merritt R. Turetsky and colleagues.
  1. Merritt R. Turetsky

    1. Merritt R. Turetsky is a Canada Research Chair in the Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Canada.

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  2. Benjamin W. Abbott

    1. Benjamin W. Abbott is assistant professor of ecosystem ecology in the Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA.

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  3. Miriam C. Jones

    1. Miriam C. Jones is a research geologist at the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, US Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, USA.

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  4. Katey Walter Anthony

    1. Katey Walter Anthony is associate professor of aquatic ecosystem ecology at the Water and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska, USA.

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  5. David Olefeldt

    1. David Olefeldt is assistant professor of catchment and wetland science in the Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.

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  6. Edward A. G. Schuur

    1. Edward A. G. Schuur is professor of ecosystem ecology in the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, and Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.

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  7. Charles Koven

    1. Charles Koven is a staff scientist in the Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA.

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  8. A. David McGuire

    1. A. David McGuire is emeritus professor of ecology at the Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska, USA.

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  9. Guido Grosse

    1. Guido Grosse is professor for permafrost in the Earth system at the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany.

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  10. Peter Kuhry

    1. Peter Kuhry is professor at the Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, Sweden.

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  11. Gustaf Hugelius

    1. Gustaf Hugelius is a senior lecturer at the Department of Physical Geography and Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Sweden.

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  12. David M. Lawrence

    1. David M. Lawrence is a senior scientist in the Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA.

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  13. Carolyn Gibson

    1. Carolyn Gibson is a PhD Student in the Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Canada.

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  14. A. Britta K. Sannel

    1. A. Britta K. Sannel is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Physical Geography and Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Sweden.

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Soil erosion due to permafrost thaw in the Batagaika crater in eastern Siberia

The Batagaika crater in eastern Russia was formed when land began to sink in the 1960s owing to thawing permafrost. Credit: Yuri Kozyrev/NOOR/eyevine

This much is clear: the Arctic is warming fast, and frozen soils are starting to thaw, often for the first time in thousands of years. But how this happens is as murky as the mud that oozes from permafrost when ice melts.

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Nature 569, 32-34 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01313-4

Disclaimer: Any use of trade, product or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US government.

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