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BIOGEOCHEMISTRY

Permafrost slowly exhales methane

Permafrost soils store vast quantities of organic matter that are vulnerable to decomposition under a warming climate. Recent research finds that methane release from thawing permafrost may outpace carbon dioxide as a major contributor to global warming over the next century.

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Fig. 1: Methane release from permafrost.

Chonggang Xu, NGEE Arctic, Los Alamos National Laboratory (left); David Graham (Oak Ridge National Laboratory), modified by Elizabeth Herndon (right).

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Correspondence to Elizabeth M. Herndon.

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Herndon, E.M. Permafrost slowly exhales methane. Nature Clim Change 8, 273–274 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0129-6

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