Review Article
Open Access
Permafrost and Climate Change: Carbon Cycle Feedbacks From the Warming Arctic
- Edward A.G. Schuur1,2,Benjamin W. Abbott3,Roisin Commane4,Jessica Ernakovich5,Eugenie Euskirchen6,Gustaf Hugelius7,Guido Grosse8,Miriam Jones9,Charlie Koven10,Victor Leshyk1,David Lawrence11,Michael M. Loranty12,Marguerite Mauritz13,David Olefeldt14,Susan Natali15,Heidi Rodenhizer1,Verity Salmon16,Christina Schädel1,Jens Strauss8,Claire Treat8 andMerritt Turetsky17
- View AffiliationsHide Affiliations1Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA; email:[email protected]2Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA3Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA4Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York, USA5Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, USA6Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA7Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden8Permafrost Research Section, Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany9Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, USA10Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA11National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA12Department of Geography, Colgate University, Hamilton, New York, USA13Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, USA14Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada15Woodwell Climate Research Center, Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA16Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA17Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA
- Vol. 47:343-371(Volume publication date October 2022)
- © Annual ReviewsThis is a work of the US Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States
Abstract
Rapid Arctic environmental change affects the entire Earth system as thawing permafrost ecosystems release greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Understanding how much permafrost carbon will be released, over what time frame, and what the relative emissions of carbon dioxide and methane will be is key for understanding the impact on global climate. In addition, the response of vegetation in a warming climate has the potential to offset at least some of the accelerating feedback to the climate from permafrost carbon. Temperature, organic carbon, and ground ice are key regulators for determining the impact of permafrost ecosystems on the global carbon cycle. Together, these encompass services of permafrost relevant to global society as well as to the people living in the region and help to determine the landscape-level response of this region to a changing climate.





