Tundra fire increases the likelihood of methane hotspot formation in the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, USA
Abstract Rapid warming in Arctic tundra may lead to drier soils in summer and greater lightning ignition rates, likely culminating in enhanced wildfire risk. Increased wildfire frequency and intensity leads to greater conversion of permafrost carbon to greenhouse gas emissions. Here, we quantify the...
Published in: | Environmental Research Letters |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Other Authors: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
IOP Publishing
2023
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acf50b https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/acf50b https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/acf50b/pdf |
id |
crioppubl:10.1088/1748-9326/acf50b |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crioppubl:10.1088/1748-9326/acf50b 2024-06-02T08:02:30+00:00 Tundra fire increases the likelihood of methane hotspot formation in the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, USA Yoseph, Elizabeth Hoy, Elizabeth Elder, Clayton D Ludwig, Sarah M Thompson, David R Miller, Charles E National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acf50b https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/acf50b https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/acf50b/pdf unknown IOP Publishing http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://iopscience.iop.org/info/page/text-and-data-mining Environmental Research Letters volume 18, issue 10, page 104042 ISSN 1748-9326 journal-article 2023 crioppubl https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acf50b 2024-05-07T13:55:04Z Abstract Rapid warming in Arctic tundra may lead to drier soils in summer and greater lightning ignition rates, likely culminating in enhanced wildfire risk. Increased wildfire frequency and intensity leads to greater conversion of permafrost carbon to greenhouse gas emissions. Here, we quantify the effect of recent tundra fires on the creation of methane (CH 4 ) emission hotspots, a fingerprint of the permafrost carbon feedback. We utilized high-resolution (∼25 m 2 pixels) and broad coverage (1780 km 2 ) airborne imaging spectroscopy and maps of historical wildfire-burned areas to determine whether CH 4 hotspots were more likely in areas burned within the last 50 years in the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, USA. Our observations provide a unique observational constraint on CH 4 dynamics, allowing us to map CH 4 hotspots in relation to individual burn events, burn scar perimeters, and proximity to water. We find that CH 4 hotspots are roughly 29% more likely on average in tundra that burned within the last 50 years compared to unburned areas and that this effect is nearly tripled along burn scar perimeters that are delineated by surface water features. Our results indicate that the changes following tundra fire favor the complex environmental conditions needed to generate CH 4 emission hotspots. We conclude that enhanced CH 4 emissions following tundra fire represent a positive feedback that will accelerate climate warming, tundra fire occurrence, and future permafrost carbon loss to the atmosphere. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Kuskokwim permafrost Tundra Alaska Yukon IOP Publishing Arctic Yukon Environmental Research Letters |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
IOP Publishing |
op_collection_id |
crioppubl |
language |
unknown |
description |
Abstract Rapid warming in Arctic tundra may lead to drier soils in summer and greater lightning ignition rates, likely culminating in enhanced wildfire risk. Increased wildfire frequency and intensity leads to greater conversion of permafrost carbon to greenhouse gas emissions. Here, we quantify the effect of recent tundra fires on the creation of methane (CH 4 ) emission hotspots, a fingerprint of the permafrost carbon feedback. We utilized high-resolution (∼25 m 2 pixels) and broad coverage (1780 km 2 ) airborne imaging spectroscopy and maps of historical wildfire-burned areas to determine whether CH 4 hotspots were more likely in areas burned within the last 50 years in the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, USA. Our observations provide a unique observational constraint on CH 4 dynamics, allowing us to map CH 4 hotspots in relation to individual burn events, burn scar perimeters, and proximity to water. We find that CH 4 hotspots are roughly 29% more likely on average in tundra that burned within the last 50 years compared to unburned areas and that this effect is nearly tripled along burn scar perimeters that are delineated by surface water features. Our results indicate that the changes following tundra fire favor the complex environmental conditions needed to generate CH 4 emission hotspots. We conclude that enhanced CH 4 emissions following tundra fire represent a positive feedback that will accelerate climate warming, tundra fire occurrence, and future permafrost carbon loss to the atmosphere. |
author2 |
National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Yoseph, Elizabeth Hoy, Elizabeth Elder, Clayton D Ludwig, Sarah M Thompson, David R Miller, Charles E |
spellingShingle |
Yoseph, Elizabeth Hoy, Elizabeth Elder, Clayton D Ludwig, Sarah M Thompson, David R Miller, Charles E Tundra fire increases the likelihood of methane hotspot formation in the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, USA |
author_facet |
Yoseph, Elizabeth Hoy, Elizabeth Elder, Clayton D Ludwig, Sarah M Thompson, David R Miller, Charles E |
author_sort |
Yoseph, Elizabeth |
title |
Tundra fire increases the likelihood of methane hotspot formation in the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, USA |
title_short |
Tundra fire increases the likelihood of methane hotspot formation in the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, USA |
title_full |
Tundra fire increases the likelihood of methane hotspot formation in the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, USA |
title_fullStr |
Tundra fire increases the likelihood of methane hotspot formation in the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, USA |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tundra fire increases the likelihood of methane hotspot formation in the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, USA |
title_sort |
tundra fire increases the likelihood of methane hotspot formation in the yukon–kuskokwim delta, alaska, usa |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acf50b https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/acf50b https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/acf50b/pdf |
geographic |
Arctic Yukon |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Yukon |
genre |
Arctic Kuskokwim permafrost Tundra Alaska Yukon |
genre_facet |
Arctic Kuskokwim permafrost Tundra Alaska Yukon |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters volume 18, issue 10, page 104042 ISSN 1748-9326 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://iopscience.iop.org/info/page/text-and-data-mining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acf50b |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
_version_ |
1800746995011289088 |