Thawing Permafrost Also Releasing Nitrous Oxide into Atmosphere
07.04.2010 - Atmosphere & Space, Land & Geology, Ice & Snow, Arctic
Nitrous oxide (N2O), which gets into the atmosphere from fertilizers used in agriculture or the use of fossil fuels, had been believed that while carbon dioxide and methane were released as permafrost melted, nitrous oxide remained in the permafrost. However according to a new study, the release of the powerful greenhouse gas nitrous oxide form thawing Arctic permafrost appears to have been overlooked.
The study, conducted by scientists from the University of Copenhagen and the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) and published in the journal Nature Geoscience, found that emissions of the gas measured from thawing wetlands in Zackenberg in eastern Greenland were 20 times as high as those measured in tropical forests, one of the main natural sources of the gas. The measurements that were taken in five additional places in Canada and Svalbard show that the emissions measured in Zackenberg might be low compared to the other places under study.
The study also shows that while thawing and draining of soils has little impact on nitrous oxide production, re-saturation of the drained soils with meltwater from the frozen soils - a process that could occur following thawing - increased nitrous oxide production more than twentyfold. During this process, nearly a third of the nitrous oxide produced is released into the atmosphere.
