Rapid shift in greenhouse forcing of emerging arctic peatlands

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Christensen, Torben R., Scheller, Johan, Scheel, Maria, Rudd, Daniel Alexander, Jackowicz-Korczynski, Marcin, Mastepanov, Mikhail, López-Blanco, Efrén
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Arctic; Climate change
• Online Access: https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/7d3e8f02-4226-4031-b63c-b08a5a19fcd6; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-29859-4; http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85148401753&partnerID=8YFLogxK

In this study, we hypothesised that the actual development stage (i.e., current age of the ecosystem) is a determining factor for the magnitude of methane production and emissions in young, northern high-latitude peatlands. We demonstrate that the earliest development of peat soil imposes a sink-to-source shift in the greenhouse warming potential of emerging peatlands in response to climate change that holds feedback mechanisms of importance for short-term (< 100 years) climate warming.