The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the world, causing glaciers to melt and habitat loss at a record rate. A situation joined by an unexpected phenomenon: its lakes are drying up.
A study published in the journal Nature Climate Change shows that over the past twenty years, Arctic lakes have shrunk or completely dried up across the pan-Arctic region (northern Canada, Russia, Greenland, Scandinavia and Alaska).
The reduction in lakes came as a surprise, as scientists thought that climate change would initially enlarge tundra lakes due to surface changes due to melting land ice, which would eventually dry up by the middle of the 21st or 22nd century.
These lakes are a fundamental element of the ecosystem of the river. Arcticproviding a source of fresh water for the communities living there, in addition to migratory birds and endangered aquatic creatures that also depend on lake habitats to survive.
The loss of these lakes, according to study authors led by Elizabeth Webb of the University of Florida, could be caused by permafrost, the frozen soil that covers Arctic.
Permafrost degradation and lake drainage
The team hypothesized that thawing permafrost could reduce the surface area of lakes in Arctic by creating drainage channels and increasing soil erosion in them.
“Our results show that permafrost is melting even faster” than previously thought and indicate that “the region is likely on track to increase landscape-scale drainage in the future,” Webb said.
Studies show that the increase in precipitation in autumn causes the degradation of permafrost and the drying up of lakes. Rainwater carries heat to the ground and accelerates the melting of permafrost, which can open underground channels that drain the surface.
Permafrost Arctic it is a natural repository of stored organic matter and gases that warm the planet because they store almost twice as much carbon as the atmosphere.
“There are many ongoing studies that suggest that as permafrost melts, this carbon is vulnerable to being released into the atmosphere as methane and carbon dioxide,” the scientist warned.
On the plus side, previous models of lake dynamics have predicted their expansion, which thaws the surrounding permafrost, but as they dry up, the nearby permafrost probably won’t thaw as quickly.
To slow the disappearance of lakes, recent research suggests that perhaps the best way to save permafrost is to reduce fossil fuel emissions.
To achieve their results, the team used satellite data to identify general trends in surface water in Arctic and used a machine learning approach to study the climate change mechanisms responsible for lake surface change.
Using large sets of satellite images to assess patterns of surface water loss, they were able to analyze decades of data from around the world. Arctic.
(As reported by EFE)
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Source: RPP
I’m Liza Grey, an experienced news writer and author at the Buna Times. I specialize in writing about economic issues, with a focus on uncovering stories that have a positive impact on society. With over seven years of experience in the news industry, I am highly knowledgeable about current events and the ways in which they affect our daily lives.