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#arcticwarming — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #arcticwarming, aggregated by home.social.

  1. #Arctic #tundra is now emitting more #carbon than it absorbs, US agency says

    Drastic shift driven by frequent #wildfires, pushing surface air #temperatures to second-warmest on record since 1900

    by Dharna Noor, Tue 10 December

    "The Arctic tundra is undergoing a dramatic transformation, driven by frequent wildfires that are turning it into a net source of carbon dioxide emissions after millennia of acting as a carbon sink, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (#Noaa) said on Tuesday.

    "This drastic shift is detailed in Noaa’s 2024 Arctic Report Card, which revealed that annual surface air temperatures in the Arctic this year were the second-warmest on record since 1900.

    “'Our observations now show that the Arctic tundra, which is experiencing warming and increased wildfire, is now emitting more carbon than it stores, which will worsen climate change impacts,' said Rick Spinrad, a Noaa administrator.

    "The report, led by scientists from the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts, found that the Arctic is warming faster than the global average for the 11th year in a row.

    "Currently, it is warming at up to four times the global rate, the authors found.

    "Climate warming has dual effects on the Arctic. While it stimulates plant productivity and growth, which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, it also leads to increased surface air temperatures that cause permafrost to thaw.

    "When permafrost thaws, carbon trapped in the frozen soil is decomposed by microbes and released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and methane, two potent greenhouse gases.

    "'We need accurate, holistic and comprehensive knowledge of how climate changes will affect the amount of carbon the Arctic is taking up and storing, and how much it’s releasing back into the atmosphere, in order to effectively address this crisis,' said Dr Sue Natali, a scientist at the Woodwell Center who contributed to the research. 'This report represents a critical step toward quantifying these emissions at scale.'

    "Human-caused climate change is also intensifying high-latitude wildfires, which have increased in burned area, intensity and associated carbon emissions.

    "Wildfires not only combust vegetation and soil organic matter, releasing carbon into the atmosphere, but they also strip away insulating soil layers, accelerating long-term permafrost thaw and its associated carbon emissions.

    "'In recent years, we’ve seen how increasing fire activity from climate change threatens both communities and the carbon stored in permafrost, but now we’re beginning to be able to measure the cumulative impact to the atmosphere, and it’s significant,' said Dr Brendan Rogers, Woodwell Climate scientist and report contributor."

    theguardian.com/world/2024/dec

    #GlobalWarming #GlobalBurning #2024ArcticReportCard #ArcticWarming #Tundra #PermafrostThaw #GreenhouseGases #Methane #Microbes #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange

  2. #Inuit group calls for bigger role in #ClimateAction

    The Inuit Circumpolar Council is seeking to bring the effects of #Arctic #CimateChange on their communities to the attention of participants of the #COP28 conference in Dubai

    Alaska Beacon, via Indian Country Today
    Dec 8, 2023

    "The #InuitCircumpolarCouncil includes representatives in #Alaska, #Canada, #Greenland and #Russia. It is one of the six international #Indigenous organizations that have decision-making power at the eight-nation #ArcticCouncil. The Inuit Circumpolar Council has a COP 28 delegation, to include Alaska members.

    "One key issue highlighted in the position paper is the Loss and Damage Fund that was created at last year’s COP 27 held in Egypt. As it is structured now, the fund is focused on helping poorer nations in the #GlobalSouth address the impacts of climate change.

    "That leaves a big gap, said Inuit Circumpolar Chair #SaraOlsvig of Greenland.

    "'This means that as it is structured now, Inuit and other Arctic #IndigenousPeoples will not have access to the fund, although we are among those most impacted by climate change,' Olsvig said by email. Given the rapid rate of Arctic warming and associated effects, 'the inclusion of Inuit in any policy and decision-making is of great importance,' she said."

    Read more:
    ictnews.org/news/inuit-group-c

    #ClimateJustice #Yupik #Chukchi #Chukotka #Kalaallit #Inughuit #Iñupiat #Tunumiit #Nunatsiavut #Nunavik #Inuvialuit #ArcticIndigenousPeoples #GlobalWarming #ArcticWarming