Accelerating rates of Arctic carbon cycling revealed by long-term atmospheric CO₂ measurements.

ABSTRACT: The contemporary Arctic carbon balance is uncertain, and the potential for a permafrost carbon feedback of anywhere from 50 to 200 petagrams of carbon (Schuur et al., 2015) compromises accurate 21st-century global climate system projections. The 42-year record of atmospheric CO₂ measurements at Barrow, Alaska (71.29 N, 156.79 W), reveals significant trends in regional land-surface CO₂ anomalies (ΔCO₂), indicating long-term changes in seasonal carbon uptake and respiration. Using a carbon balance model constrained by ΔCO₂, we find a 13.4% decrease in mean carbon residence time (50% confidence range = 9.2 to 17.6%) in North Slope tundra ecosystems during the past four decades, suggesting a transition toward a boreal carbon cycling regime. Te

SUBMITTER: Jeong SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6040845 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature