Emergent biogeochemical risks from Arctic permafrost degradation

Kimberley R. Miner (), Juliana D’Andrilli, Rachel Mackelprang, Arwyn Edwards, Michael J. Malaska, Mark P. Waldrop and Charles E. Miller
Additional contact information
Kimberley R. Miner: California Institute of Technology
Juliana D’Andrilli: Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
Rachel Mackelprang: California State University at Northridge
Arwyn Edwards: Aberystwyth University
Michael J. Malaska: California Institute of Technology
Mark P. Waldrop: US Geological Survey
Charles E. Miller: California Institute of Technology

Nature Climate Change, 2021, vol. 11, issue 10, 809-819

Abstract: Abstract The Arctic cryosphere is collapsing, posing overlapping environmental risks. In particular, thawing permafrost threatens to release biological, chemical and radioactive materials that have been sequestered for tens to hundreds of thousands of years. As these constituents re-enter the environment, they have the potential to disrupt ecosystem function, reduce the populations of unique Arctic wildlife and endanger human health. Here, we review the current state of the science to identify potential hazards currently frozen in Arctic permafrost. We also consider the cascading natural and anthropogenic processes that may compound the impacts of these risks, as it is unclear whether the highly adapted Arctic ecosystems have the resilience to withstand new stresses. We conclude by recommending research priorities to address these underappreciated risks.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01162-y Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcli:v:11:y:2021:i:10:d:10.1038_s41558-021-01162-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/nclimate/

DOI: 10.1038/s41558-021-01162-y

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Climate Change is currently edited by Bronwyn Wake

More articles in Nature Climate Change from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().