Inland water greenhouse gas emissions offset the terrestrial carbon sink in the northern cryosphere

Climate-sensitive northern cryosphere inland waters emit greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere, yet their total emissions remain poorly constrained. We present a data-driven synthesis of GHG emissions from northern cryosphere inland waters considering water body types, cryosphere zones, and seasonality. We find that annual GHG emissions are dominated by carbon dioxide ([Formula: see text] teragrams of CO<sub>2</sub>; [Formula: see text]) and methane ([Formula: see text] teragrams of CH<sub>4</sub>), while the nitrous oxide emission ([Formula: see text] gigagrams of N<sub>2</sub>O) is minor. The annual CO<sub>2</sub>-equivalent (CO<sub>2</sub>e) GHG emissions from northern cryosphere inland waters total [Formula: see text] or [Formula: see text] petagrams of CO<sub>2</sub>e using the 100- or 20-year global warming potentials, respectively. Rivers emit 64% more CO<sub>2</sub>e GHGs than lakes, despite having only one-fifth of their surface area. The continuous permafrost zone contributed half of the inland water GHG emissions. Annual CO<sub>2</sub>e emissions from northern cryosphere inland waters exceed the region's terrestrial net ecosystem exchange, highlighting the important role of inland waters in the cryospheric land-aquatic continuum under a warming climate.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science Advances
Published
2024-09-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adp0024
Citations
24
Primary Topic
Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
6.01
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article

Inland water greenhouse gas emissions offset the terrestrial carbon sink in the northern cryosphere

Genxu Wang, Shaoda Liu, Zhaoyong Hu, Judith Andrea Rosentreter et al.
24 citations
Science Advances
Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena
6.01
article

Inland water greenhouse gas emissions offset the terrestrial carbon sink in the northern cryosphere

Genxu Wang, Shaoda Liu, Zhaoyong Hu, Judith Andrea Rosentreter, Yuanzhi Yao, Gang Zhao, Shan Lin, Cuicui Mu, Peter A. Raymond, Jan Karlsson, Yuhao Li, Xiangyang Sun, Shouqin Sun, Chunlin Song, Liwei Zhang, Ying Wang, Li Yang, Juying Sun
article en
24 citations

Abstract

Climate-sensitive northern cryosphere inland waters emit greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere, yet their total emissions remain poorly constrained. We present a data-driven synthesis of GHG emissions from northern cryosphere inland waters considering water body types, cryosphere zones, and seasonality. We find that annual GHG emissions are dominated by carbon dioxide ([Formula: see text] teragrams of CO<sub>2</sub>; [Formula: see text]) and methane ([Formula: see text] teragrams of CH<sub>4</sub>), while the nitrous oxide emission ([Formula: see text] gigagrams of N<sub>2</sub>O) is minor. The annual CO<sub>2</sub>-equivalent (CO<sub>2</sub>e) GHG emissions from northern cryosphere inland waters total [Formula: see text] or [Formula: see text] petagrams of CO<sub>2</sub>e using the 100- or 20-year global warming potentials, respectively. Rivers emit 64% more CO<sub>2</sub>e GHGs than lakes, despite having only one-fifth of their surface area. The continuous permafrost zone contributed half of the inland water GHG emissions. Annual CO<sub>2</sub>e emissions from northern cryosphere inland waters exceed the region's terrestrial net ecosystem exchange, highlighting the important role of inland waters in the cryospheric land-aquatic continuum under a warming climate.

Science AdvancesVol. 10(39)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Sichuan University (CN), Beijing Normal University (CN), Yale University (US), Shanghai Estuarine & Coastal Science Research Center (CN), Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research (CN), Southern Cross University (AU), East China Normal University (CN), Lanzhou University (CN), Umeå University (SE)
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena
6.01
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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