For years, scientists have monitored the close relationship between rising carbon pollution and the melting of glaciers in the Arctic. According to a new study from researchers from the University of Florida and the University of Maryland, there may be a new dimension to the relationship that requires a closer look.
What’s happening?
As noted in the study, the team of researchers theorized that as glaciers melt and uncover land, the fresh sediments first trigger chemical reactions that actually help suppress greenhouse gases. The team explained its findings in an article published by Phys.org.
Jonathan Martin, a professor of geological sciences at UF and the lead author of the study, revealed the core principle behind the research. “Our central hypothesis was that the transfer of greenhouse gases between landscapes and the atmosphere has changed since the Last Glacial Maximum about 15,000 years ago, as the landscapes are exposed following loss of continental ice sheets,” noted Martin.
To test this theory, the team conducted field research at a “partially deglaciated watershed” in southwest Greenland. It was able to collect fresh glacial meltwater samples that contained low concentrations of reactive dissolved organic carbon. The researchers also pulled soil water that had been exposed to atmospheric conditions since the glacier first began retreating thousands of years ago.
Why is this glacier study important?
When newly crushed rock from melting glaciers breaks down through chemical reactions, it pulls carbon dioxide out of the air and stores it. This helps reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, at least temporarily.
The team suggests that the meltwater was reacting with the fine, crushed rock left behind by the moving glaciers, which helped limit greenhouse gas release at first. But over thousands of years, as soil started to form on the exposed land, new chemical reactions began. These reactions in the soil started to produce methane, another powerful greenhouse gas.
“These results imply that the loss of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during deglaciation after the Last Glacial Maximum reduced the heat-trapping capacity of the atmosphere and provided a negative feedback on natural global warming associated with the transition out of an ice age,” explained Martin.
The increase in global temperature has significantly impacted the environment by causing shifts in weather patterns, rising sea levels, disruptions to ecosystems, and other critical climate issues. These changes lead to more frequent and intense extreme weather events that threaten both wildlife and human populations.
What’s being done about carbon emissions?
The researchers believe that the exposed land ultimately produced more methane. Since methane is a strong greenhouse gas, this would make the atmosphere better at trapping heat, which in turn would lead to the continued increase of the global temperature.
While researchers have detailed the impacts of gases like methane and carbon dioxide, Martin is now eyeing a new study that focuses more on nitrous oxide. Even though nitrous oxide represents just 6% of all gas emissions, its ability to trap heat in the atmosphere hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“An important future question would be to evaluate how the relative magnitudes of production and loss of these three greenhouse gases relate to each other to regulate warming and cooling during the loss of glacial ice,” Martin added.
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