Access
This article is part of Nature's premium content.
Published online 27 May 2009 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2009.513
News
Arctic thaw could prompt huge release of carbon dioxide
But plant growth initially offsets permafrost carbon release.
Thawing Arctic soils could release a billion tonnes of carbon every year by the end of this century, new evidence from test plots in Alaska suggests.
The study by researchers in the United States is one of the first to use radiocarbon dating to calculate the rate of carbon loss from melting tundra soils in situ.
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
Comments
Reader comments are usually moderated after posting. If you find something offensive or inappropriate, you can speed this process by clicking 'Report this comment' (or, if that doesn't work for you, email webadmin@nature.com). For more controversial topics, we reserve the right to moderate before comments are published.
There are currently no comments.
