Researchers find most Arctic permafrost carbon reaching sediments remains buried
Most of the ancient carbon released from Arctic permafrost that reaches coastal sediments may remain buried rather than returning to the atmosphere, instead of turning into greenhouse gasses.
Scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) and MARUM at the University of Bremen found that only about 10% is converted to gas by microbes, so its impact on climate change might not be as big as feared.
Microbes prefer fresh over permafrost carbon
Researchers looked at sediment near Herschel Island and noticed seabed microbes preferred fresher marine carbon over old permafrost stuff.
Still, some of this permafrost-derived material breaks down before reaching the ocean floor, which can make waters murkier and affect marine life.
As temperatures keep rising and more permafrost thaws, these changes could get more intense.