Fast response of cold ice-rich permafrost in northeast Siberia to a warming climate

• Published in: Nature Communications
• Main Authors: Nitzbon, Jan, Westermann, Sebastian, Langer, Moritz, Martin, Léo C. P., Strauss, Jens, Laboor, Sebastian, Boike, Julia
• Other Authors: Norges Forskningsråd, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2020
• Subjects: General Physics and Astronomy; General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; General Chemistry; Arctic; Climate change; Ice; permafrost; Thermokarst; Siberia
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15725-8; http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-15725-8.pdf; http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-15725-8

Abstract The ice- and organic-rich permafrost of the northeast Siberian Arctic lowlands (NESAL) has been projected to remain stable beyond 2100, even under pessimistic climate warming scenarios. However, the numerical models used for these projections lack processes which induce widespread landscape change termed thermokarst, precluding realistic simulation of permafrost thaw in such ice-rich terrain. Here, we consider thermokarst-inducing processes in a numerical model and show that substantial permafrost degradation, involving widespread landscape collapse, is projected for the NESAL under strong warming (RCP8.5), while thawing is moderated by stabilizing feedbacks under moderate warming (RCP4.5). We estimate that by 2100 thaw-affected carbon could be up to three-fold (twelve-fold) under RCP4.5 (RCP8.5), of what is projected if thermokarst-inducing processes are ignored. Our study provides progress towards robust assessments of the global permafrost carbon–climate feedback by Earth system models, and underlines the importance of mitigating climate change to limit its impacts on permafrost ecosystems.