Carbon release through abrupt permafrost thaw

Merritt R. Turetsky; Benjamin W. Abbott; Miriam C. Jones; Katey Walter Anthony; David Olefeldt; Edward A. Schuur; Guido Grosse; Peter Kuhry; Gustaf Hugelius; Charles Koven; David M. Lawrence; Carolyn Gibson; A. Britta K. Sannel; A.D. McGuire

doi:10.1038/s41561-019-0526-0

Carbon release through abrupt permafrost thaw

Nature Geoscience

By: Merritt R. Turetsky, Benjamin W. Abbott, Miriam C. Jones, Katey Walter Anthony, David Olefeldt, Edward A. Schuur, Guido Grosse, Peter Kuhry, Gustaf Hugelius, Charles Koven, David M. Lawrence, Carolyn Gibson, A. Britta K. Sannel, and A.D. McGuire

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0526-0

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Abstract

The permafrost zone is expected to be a substantial carbon source to the atmosphere, yet large-scale models currently only simulate gradual changes in seasonally thawed soil. Abrupt thaw will probably occur in <20% of the permafrost zone but could affect half of permafrost carbon through collapsing ground, rapid erosion and landslides. Here, we synthesize the best available information and develop inventory models to simulate abrupt thaw impacts on permafrost carbon balance. Emissions across 2.5 million km2 of abrupt thaw could provide a similar climate feedback as gradual thaw emissions from the entire 18 million km2 permafrost region under the warming projection of Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5. While models forecast that gradual thaw may lead to net ecosystem carbon uptake under projections of Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5, abrupt thaw emissions are likely to offset this potential carbon sink. Active hillslope erosional features will occupy 3% of abrupt thaw terrain by 2300 but emit one-third of abrupt thaw carbon losses. Thaw lakes and wetlands are methane hot spots but their carbon release is partially offset by slowly regrowing vegetation. After considering abrupt thaw stabilization, lake drainage and soil carbon uptake by vegetation regrowth, we conclude that models considering only gradual permafrost thaw are substantially underestimating carbon emissions from thawing permafrost.

Suggested Citation

Turetsky, M.R., Abbott, B., Jones, M.C., Walter Anthony, K., Olefeldt, D., Schuur, E.A., Grosse, G., Kuhry, P., Hugelius, G., Koven, C., Lawrence, D.M., Gibson, C., Sannel, A.B., McGuire, A., 2020, Carbon release through abrupt permafrost thaw: Nature Geoscience, v. 13, p. 138-143, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0526-0.

Additional publication details
Publication type	Article
Publication Subtype	Journal Article
Title	Carbon release through abrupt permafrost thaw
Series title	Nature Geoscience
DOI	10.1038/s41561-019-0526-0
Volume	13
Publication Date	February 03, 2020
Year Published	2020
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Nature
Contributing office(s)	Eastern Geology and Paleoclimate Science Center, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
Description	6 p.
First page	138
Last page	143