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Climate science

Vast costs of Arctic change

Nature volume 499, pages 401–403 (2013)Cite this article

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Methane released by melting permafrost will have global impacts that must be better modelled, say Gail Whiteman, Chris Hope and Peter Wadhams.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gail Whiteman is professor of sustainability, management and climate change at Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands.,

    Gail Whiteman

  2. Chris Hope is a reader in policy modelling at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK.,

    Chris Hope

  3. Peter Wadhams is professor of ocean physics at the University of Cambridge, UK.,

    Peter Wadhams

Authors
  1. Gail Whiteman
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  2. Chris Hope
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  3. Peter Wadhams
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gail Whiteman.

Supplementary information

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Related external links

Scientific American: Melting Arctic Ice

World Economic Forum: Global Agenda Council on the Arctic

UK Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change

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Cite this article

Whiteman, G., Hope, C. & Wadhams, P. Vast costs of Arctic change. Nature 499, 401–403 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/499401a

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Comments

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  1. Mahmoud Reda

    This happens before and caused the disappearance of the dinosaurs. It is a Mother Nature way to combat against corruption not only in the political system but also in the financial system. Mother Nature is a complete system just as a body of an animal. When attacked by a virus it will form a resistance force against the virus through the white cells. The good news is that the expected CO2 release will sharply decline in the next 20 years because of successful research in hydrogen storage which means you can go to Wallmart and buy a magnesium doped nanoparticles sheet and use it as fuel to drive your car almost 500 km with zero CO2 emission. We have now car that runs on electricity but still needs the trust of the consumer. Thanks to president Obama who is a distinguished professor at Harvard University who is supporting research in hydrogen and fuel cells.

  2. Roseann Campbell

    Posted on behalf of the Authors:

    Arctic response to global warming is already very strong, very rapid, and of major global significance. It poses an immediate and troubling danger to global climate that will likely have severe consequences both for the biosphere and the human economy. Accordingly, sustained monitoring, focused research and sound risk analysis are crucial for the predictions of future impact. Arctic hydrates have long been identified as a likely source of strong positive feedback.

    However, the analysis by Whiteman et al., Vast costs of Arctic change, Nature, 499, 401-3 (25th July 2013), cannot be supported in our view, as it is based on a hypothetical release of 50 Gt of hydrate-sourced methane, at a flux of 5 Gt per year over a period of a decade from 2015-2025. A methane release on this scale is orders of magnitude greater than found in the geological record, is much larger than suggested by hydrate modelling, and is not seen to date in atmospheric measurements (either locally in the Arctic or globally).

    Our full response to the Comment by Whiteman et al. is accessible at: http://equianos.com/wordpre...

    E.G Nisbet1, G. Allen2, M. Cain3, E.J. Dlugokencky4, R.E. Fisher1, J.L. France1, M.W. Gallagher2, D. Lowry1, C. Lund Myhre5, T.A. Minshull6, J.A. Pyle3, C.D. Ruppel7, N.J. Warwick3, G.K. Westbrook6, D.E.J. Worthy8.

    1. Dept. of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway, Univ. of London TW20 0EX, UK
    2. School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL
    3. National Centre for Atmospheric Science, Chemistry Dept, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK
    4. NOAA ESRL, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
    5. NILU &#8211 Norwegian Institute for Air Research, PO Box 100, NO-2027 Kjeller, Norway.
    6. National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK
    7. U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598, USA.
    8. Environment Canada, 4905 Dufferin St., Downsview, ON, M3H 5T4 Canada

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