We Must Stop Fossil Fuel Emissions to Protect Permafrost Ecosystems

Frontiers in Environmental Science

Paul J. Mann¹  Jens Strauss²  Brett F. Thornton³  Susan M. Natali⁴  Rachael Treharne⁴  Scott Zolkos⁴  David Olefeldt⁵  Merritt Turetsky⁶  Carolina Voigt⁷  Pam Pearson⁸  Nancy Wright⁹  Abigail Rec^1,10  Yuanhe Yang^1,11  Martin Robards^1,12  Jay P. Zarnetske^1,13  Verity G. Salmon^1,14  Edward A. G. Schuur^1,16  Christina Schädel^1,16  Sarah Shakil^1,17  Suzanne E. Tank^1,17  Arial J. Shogren^1,18  Michael M. Loranty^1,19  Jessica Ernakovich^2,20  Gustaf Hugelius^2,21  Benjamin W. Abbott^2,22  Sayedeh Sara Sayedi^2,22  Raymond M. Lee^2,22  Qiwen Zhang^2,22  Joanna C. Carey^2,23  Michael Brown^2,24  Robie Macdonald^2,25  Jennifer M. Frederick^2,26  Laodong Guo^2,27 

[1]0Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, United Kingdom

[2]0Permafrost Research Section, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany

[3]1Department of Geological Sciences and Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

[4]1Woodwell Climate Research Center, Falmouth, MA, United States

[5]2Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

[6]2University of Colorado Boulder, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), Boulder, CO, United States

[7]3Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland

[8]3International Cryosphere Climate Initiative, Pawlet, VT, United States

[9]4Permafrost Carbon Feedback Action Group, Cascade Institute, Colwood, BC, Canada

[10]4Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United States

[11]5State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

[12]5Wildlife Conservation Society, Arctic Beringia Program, Fairbanks, AK, United States

[13]6Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States

[14]6Environmental Science Division and Climate Change Science Institute, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, United States

[15]7Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States

[16]7Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, United States

[17]8Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

[18]9Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, United States

[19]Department of Geography, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, United States

[20]Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States

[21]Department of Physical Geography, Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

[22]Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, United States

[23]Division of Math and Science, Babson College, Wellesley, MA, United States

[24]Innovative Breakthrough Energy Technology Ltd., Permafrost Carbon Feedback Action Group, Cascade Institute, Colwood, BC, Canada

[25]Institute of Ocean Science (IOS), Sidney, BC, Canada

[26]Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, United States

[27]School of Freshwater Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, United States

关键词: permafrost climate feedback;    Arctic;    Boreal;    climate policy;    renewable energy;    ecosystem feedback;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fenvs.2022.889428

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Climate change is an existential threat to the vast global permafrost domain. The diverse human cultures, ecological communities, and biogeochemical cycles of this tenth of the planet depend on the persistence of frozen conditions. The complexity, immensity, and remoteness of permafrost ecosystems make it difficult to grasp how quickly things are changing and what can be done about it. Here, we summarize terrestrial and marine changes in the permafrost domain with an eye toward global policy. While many questions remain, we know that continued fossil fuel burning is incompatible with the continued existence of the permafrost domain as we know it. If we fail to protect permafrost ecosystems, the consequences for human rights, biosphere integrity, and global climate will be severe. The policy implications are clear: the faster we reduce human emissions and draw down atmospheric CO2, the more of the permafrost domain we can save. Emissions reduction targets must be strengthened and accompanied by support for local peoples to protect intact ecological communities and natural carbon sinks within the permafrost domain. Some proposed geoengineering interventions such as solar shading, surface albedo modification, and vegetation manipulations are unproven and may exacerbate environmental injustice without providing lasting protection. Conversely, astounding advances in renewable energy have reopened viable pathways to halve human greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and effectively stop them well before 2050. We call on leaders, corporations, researchers, and citizens everywhere to acknowledge the global importance of the permafrost domain and work towards climate restoration and empowerment of Indigenous and immigrant communities in these regions.

【 授权许可】

Unknown