Roles of Thermokarst Lakes in a Warming World
Permafrost covers a quarter of the northern hemisphere land surface and contains twice the amount of carbon that is currently present in the atmosphere. Future climate change is expected to reduce its near-surface cover by over 90% by the end of the 21st century, leading to thermokarst lake formatio...
| Published in: | Trends in Microbiology |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5001832 https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5001832_4/component/file_5002973/5001832.pdf |
| Summary: | Permafrost covers a quarter of the northern hemisphere land surface and contains twice the amount of carbon that is currently present in the atmosphere. Future climate change is expected to reduce its near-surface cover by over 90% by the end of the 21st century, leading to thermokarst lake formation. Thermokarst lakes are point sources of carbon dioxide and methane which release long-term carbon stocks into the atmosphere, thereby initiating a positive climate feedback potentially contributing up to a 0.39°C rise of surface air temperatures by 2300. This review describes the potential role of thermokarst lakes in a warming world and the microbial mechanisms that underlie their contributions to the global greenhouse gas budget. |
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