Arctic Waters Are Emitting More Carbon as They Warm, Study Finds

From EcoWatch

The Arctic Ocean may be the planet’s smallest ocean, but it is an important carbon sink that absorbs up to 198 million tons of carbon annually, according to a press release from NASA.

However, a recent study has shown that thawing permafrost and runoff rich with carbon from the Mackenzie River in Canada is triggering part of Earth’s northernmost ocean to release a greater amount of carbon than it absorbs.

“Since the 1970s, the Arctic has warmed three time[s] faster than anywhere else on Earth, inducing large changes in its hydrological cycle. This warming has dramatically altered Arctic watersheds and rivers, which play an important role in shaping the physical and biogeochemical setting of the coastal AO [Arctic Ocean],” the authors of

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