Ancient Carbon Is Flooding Arctic Rivers As Permafrost Melts Faster

From SciTechDaily

Scientists have taken a detailed new look at what happens when Arctic permafrost begins to thaw, revealing major changes to water flow and carbon movement across northern Alaska. The research, led by geoscientist Michael Rawlins at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, provides one of the most precise views yet of how this rapidly warming region is evolving.

Arctic rivers play an outsized role in Earth’s systems. They carry about 11% of the world’s river water into an ocean that holds only 1% of global ocean volume. This makes the Arctic Ocean highly sensitive to changes happening upstream.