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Sunlight key to CO2 in Arctic, not microbes
A new study by scientists from Oregon State University, published this week in journal Science, concludes that sunlight and not bacteria is the key to triggering the production of CO2 from material released by Arctic soils. The finding is particularly important, scientists say, because climate change could affect when and how permafrost is thawed, which begins the process of converting the organic carbon into CO2.“Arctic permafrost contains about half of all the organic carbon trapped in soil on the entire Earth – and equals an amount twice of that in the atmosphere,” said Byron Crump, an Oregon State University microbial ecologist and co-author on the Science study.“This represents a major change in thinking about how the carbon cycle works in the Ar… Read more »
Source: http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2014/08/22/sunlight-key-to-co2-in-arctic-not-microbes/
