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Earth system models must include permafrost carbon processes

Nature Climate Change volume 14, pages 114–116 (2024)Cite this article

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Accurate representation of permafrost carbon emissions is crucial for climate projections, yet current Earth system models inadequately represent permafrost carbon. Sustained funding opportunities are needed from government and private sectors for prioritized model development.

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Fig. 1: Model components and processes relevant to modelling permafrost carbon dynamics.

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Acknowledgements

C.S. and D.N.H. received funding from the US Department of Energy (DOE) grant DE-SC0022116. C.S., B.M.R., E.J., H.G. and S.M.N. received funding from Permafrost Pathways through the TED Audacious Project. C.D.K., W.J.R. and D.M.L. acknowledge support from the DOE RGMA Program via the RUBISCO SFA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Woodwell Climate Research Center, Falmouth, MA, USA

    Christina Schädel, Brendan M. Rogers, Elchin Jafarov & Susan M. Natali

  2. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA

    David M. Lawrence

  3. Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Charles D. Koven & William J. Riley

  4. Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany

    Victor Brovkin

  5. Met Office Hadley Centre, Exeter, UK

    Eleanor J. Burke

  6. Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA

    Hélène Genet & A. David McGuire

  7. School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

    Deborah N. Huntzinger

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  1. Christina Schädel
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Contributions

C.S. conceptualized the article, created Fig. 1 and wrote the initial draft. B.M.R., D.M.L. and C.D.K. contributed to the conceptualizing and writing of the paper. H.G., W.J.R. and S.M.N contributed to the conceptualizing and editing of the paper. All authors provided insights and edits to the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christina Schädel.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Climate Change thanks Andrew MacDougall, Jan Nitzbon and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Schädel, C., Rogers, B.M., Lawrence, D.M. et al. Earth system models must include permafrost carbon processes. Nat. Clim. Chang. 14, 114–116 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01909-9

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