Carbon dioxide has been stored in the Arctic’s permafrost for thousands of years, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual Arctic Report shows alarming signs of global warming and an increase in wildfires in the icy region. Changes are evident. The tundra is now emitting even more carbon dioxide. than carbon is stored.
Temperatures in the tundra rose to the second-highest level on record last year, melting frozen soil, the report card shows.
Thawing permafrost activates microorganisms in the soil, which break down the trapped carbon and release it into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and methane, which warm the planet.
The release of fossil fuels from permafrost is also being driven by an increase in Arctic wildfires, which have emitted an average of 207 million tons of carbon per year since 2003.
“The Arctic tundra, which is experiencing warming temperatures and increased wildfires, is currently emitting more carbon than it is storing,” said Rick Spinrad, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “These observations show that the effects of this will worsen even further.” “This is another sign of the impact that scientists predict from inadequate reductions in fossil fuel pollution.”
Sue Natali, a scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Massachusetts and one of 97 international scientists who contributed to the Arctic Report Card, told NPR that 1.5 trillion tons of carbon remains in the tundra. He said this suggests that global warming is continuing. Permafrost can be a huge source of greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.
Along with “Arctic tundra transition from carbon sink to carbon source,” NOAA reported a decline in caribou herds and an increase in winter precipitation.
According to the report card, the fall of 2023 and summer of 2024 will be the second and third warmest on record across the Arctic, and the August 2024 heatwave will bring days to several communities in northern Alaska. It set an all-time record for temperature. Canada.
The past nine years have been the warmest in the Arctic on record.
“Many of the vital signs in the Arctic that we track are hitting or breaking new highs or lows almost every year,” said Scott, a senior scientist at the Alaska Biological Institute and an Arctic researcher. Veteran Gerald (JJ) Frost says. Author of the report card. “This shows that recent extreme years are the result of long-term, persistent changes and not changes in the climate system.”
Brenda Ekwerzel, a climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the Arctic has warmed at a faster rate than the entire planet over the past 11 years due to the continued release of fossil fuel emissions and other pollution from oil and gas extraction. He emphasized that it is becoming more commonplace. year.
“These combined changes are contributing to worsening wildfires and thawing permafrost on a historic scale, with the Arctic having served as a net carbon storage region for millennia; “It became a source,” Ekwazel said. “If this becomes a consistent trend, we will see further global climate change.”
The Arctic report card was released weeks before President-elect Donald Trump took office. President Trump has promised to reduce climate change regulations put in place by the Biden administration and increase oil and gas production. He believes rising sea levels will create “more beachfront property” and calls the climate crisis a “hoax,” while the chief executive of hydraulic fracturing company Liberty Energy, who has been nominated by the energy secretary, said: CEO Chris Wright claims that climate warming is the culprit. It’s good for the planet.
“These sobering effects in the Arctic demonstrate how policymakers in the United States and around the world continue to prioritize the interests of fossil fuel polluters and Paris climate goals over the well-being of people and the planet. “This is another manifestation of the ‘agreement being at stake,'” Ekwazel said. “All countries, especially rich and high-emitting ones, must follow the latest science to significantly reduce heat-trapping emissions at a rapid pace and help climate-vulnerable communities prepare for what lies ahead. Resource-rich countries are also working to reduce emissions.”
