Methane bubbling from Siberian thaw lakes as a positive feedback to climate warming

@article{Walter2006MethaneBF,
  title={Methane bubbling from Siberian thaw lakes as a positive feedback to climate warming},
  author={Katey Walter and Sergey A. Zimov and Jefrey P. Chanton and David L. Verbyla and F Stuart Chapin},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2006},
  volume={443},
  pages={71-75}
}
Large uncertainties in the budget of atmospheric methane, an important greenhouse gas, limit the accuracy of climate change projections. Thaw lakes in North Siberia are known to emit methane, but the magnitude of these emissions remains uncertain because most methane is released through ebullition (bubbling), which is spatially and temporally variable. Here we report a new method of measuring ebullition and use it to quantify methane emissions from two thaw lakes in North Siberia. We show that… Expand
View on Nature
faculty.jsd.claremont.edu
951 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
83
Background Citations
449
Methods Citations
29
Results Citations
19

951 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

Thawing permafrost and methane emission in Siberia: Synthesis of observations, reanalysis, and predictive modeling
TLDR
It is demonstrated that by the mid-21st century methane emission in Siberian permafrost regions will increase by less than 20 Tg year−1, which is at the lower end of other estimates, and demonstrates that the feedback between thawing Siberian wetlands and the global climate has been significantly overestimated. Expand
Methane bubbling from northern lakes: present and future contributions to the global methane budget
TLDR
This work estimates point-source ebullition for 16 lakes in Alaska and Siberia that represent several common northern lake types: glacial, alluvial floodplain, peatland and thermokarst (thaw) lakes and estimates that northern lakes are a globally significant source of atmospheric CH4. Expand
Permafrost, Lakes, and Climate-Warming Methane Feedback: What is the Worst We Can Expect?
Permafrost degradation is likely enhanced by climate warming. Subsequent landscape subsidence and hydrologic changes support expansion of lakes and wetlands. Their anaerobic environments can act as… Expand
Arctic lakes are continuous methane sources to the atmosphere under warming conditions
Methane is the second most powerful carbon-based greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and its production in the natural environment through methanogenesis is positively correlated with temperature.… Expand
Impact of terrestrial carbon input on methane emissions from an Alaskan Arctic lake
[1] Arctic warming is expected to increase thermokarst erosion in thaw lakes, thus inducing large emissions of CH4 to the atmosphere. To reduce uncertainties about the mechanisms, magnitude and… Expand
A synthesis of methane dynamics in thermokarst lake environments
Abstract Greenhouse gas emissions from physical permafrost thaw disturbance and subsidence, including the formation and expansion of thermokarst (thaw) lakes, may double the magnitude of the… Expand
Methane emissions proportional to permafrost carbon thawed in Arctic lakes since the 1950s
Warming thaws permafrost, releasing carbon that can cause more warming. Radiocarbon, soil carbon, and remote sensing data suggest that 0.2–2.5 Pg of carbon has been emitted from permafrost as CO2 and… Expand
Summer methane ebullition from a headwater catchment in Northeastern Siberia
Abstract Streams and rivers are active processors of terrestrial carbon and significant sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) to the atmosphere. Recent studies suggest that ebullition may… Expand
Permafrost degradation and methane: low risk of biogeochemical climate-warming feedback
Climate change and permafrost thaw have been suggested to increase high latitude methane emissions that could potentially represent a strong feedback to the climate system. Using an integrated… Expand
Estimating methane emissions from northern lakes using ice‐bubble surveys
The magnitude and variability in methane (CH4) emissions from lakes are uncertain due to limitations in methods for quantifying the patchiness of ebullition (bubbling). We present a field method to… Expand
...
1
2
3
4
5
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 46 REFERENCES
Evidence for a link between climate and northern wetland methane emissions
Wetlands are an important source of atmospheric methane (CH 4 ), but the strength of this source and its sensitivity to potential changes in climate are still uncertain. In this study, continuous… Expand
Methane efflux from high‐latitude lakes during spring ice melt
Ice cores removed from shallow ice-covered tundra lakes near Barrow, Alaska, and taiga lakes near Anchorage, Alaska, exhibit increasing concentrations of methane with depth. Methane concentrations in… Expand
Methane emissions from tundra environments in the Yukon‐Kuskokwim delta, Alaska
Over a 6-week period from July 3 to August 10, 1988, we made measurements of the flux of methane by enclosure techniques from major tundra environments in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta of Alaska… Expand
Methane fluxes between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere at northern high latitudes during the past century: A retrospective analysis with a process-based biogeochemistry model
minus consumption) from these soils have increased by an average 0.08 Tg CH4 yr � 1 during the twentieth century. Our estimate of the annual net emission rate at the end of the century for the region… Expand
Carbon dioxide and methane exchange of a north‐east Siberian tussock tundra
Carbon dioxide, energy flux measurements and methane chamber measurements were carried out in an arctic wet tussock grassland located on a flood plane of the Kolyma river in NE Siberia over a summer… Expand
North Siberian Lakes: A Methane Source Fueled by Pleistocene Carbon
The sizes of major sources and sinks of atmospheric methane (CH4), an important greenhouse gas, are poorly known. CH4 from north Siberian lakes contributes ∼1.5 teragrams CH4 year−1 to observed… Expand
Continuing decline in the growth rate of the atmospheric methane burden
The global atmospheric methane burden has more than doubled since pre-industrial times,, and this increase is responsible for about 20% of the estimated change in direct radiative forcing due to… Expand
The flux of CO2 and CH4 from lakes and rivers in arctic Alaska
Partial pressures of CO2 and CH4 were measured directly or calculated from pH and alkalinity or DIC measurements for 25 lakes and 4 rivers on the North Slope of Alaska. Nearly all waters were… Expand
Methane emission by bubbling from Gatun Lake, Panama
We studied methane emission by bubbling from Gatun Lake, Panama, at water depths of less than 1 m to about 10 m. Gas bubbles were collected in floating traps deployed during 12- to 60-hour… Expand
Production of methane from alasses in eastern Siberia: Implications from its 14C and stable isotopic compositions
[1] The radiocarbon ( 14 C) and stable isotopic ( 13 C and D) compositions of methane and carbon dioxide from alasses (typical landforms in permafrost terrain, consisting of lakes and wetlands) were… Expand
...
1
2
3
4
5
...