Rising global temperatures will have little effect on boreal peatlands

[OKIsItJustMe]

Last edited Wed Jun 10, 2015, 11:11 AM - Edit history (1)

https://www.sc.edu/uofsc/newsreleases/2015/06_peatlands_global_warming.php

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Rising global temperatures will have little effect on boreal peatlands[/font]

Posted on: 6/8/2015; Updated on: 6/8/2015
By Jeff Stensland, 803-777-3686

[font size=3]To some scientists studying climate change, boreal peatlands are considered a potential ticking time bomb. With huge stores of carbon in peat, the fear is that rising global temperatures could cause the release of massive amounts of CO2 from the peatlands into the atmosphere—essentially creating a greenhouse gas feedback loop.

A new study by researchers at the University of South Carolina and University of California Los Angeles challenges that notion, and demonstrates that the effect of temperature increases on peat storage could be minor. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and published in “Global Biogeochemical Cycles,” the study instead points to the length of time peat is exposed to oxygen as a much more important factor in how it releases carbon into the atmosphere.

…

The low apparent sensitivity of peat decomposition to warming has important implications for the future of the peatlands, as warming is unlikely to result in widespread carbon loss. Instead, the lengthening growing season is expected to stimulate plant growth, which combined with unchanging decomposition could increase the rate of carbon sequestration.

…

“It is too early to declare peatlands and their massive carbon stocks are secure. Changing precipitation patterns could cause drier conditions, increasing oxygen exposure time and promoting decomposition,” Benner said. “Thawing permafrost in arctic peatlands could also trigger the loss of previously inaccessible carbon. In addition, increasing atmospheric nitrogen pollution can allow rapidly decomposing vascular plants to outcompete the more recalcitrant Sphagnum (peat moss). However, the results of the study indicate the direct effect of increasing temperatures on decomposition will be relatively minor.” [/font][/font]

[NickB79]

1. Until they start on fire and burn like coal mine fires

Like we're already seeing with tundra fires: http://time.com/3913774/tundra-wildfires-southwest-alaska/

http://www.news.illinois.edu/news/10/1117tundra-fires.html

As Arctic temperatures rise, tundra fires increase, researchers find

BTW, does this paragraph strike anyone else as an almost word-for-word quote for what GW deniers tried to say about the effects of climate change on cropland?

The low apparent sensitivity of peat decomposition to warming has important implications for the future of the peatlands, as warming is unlikely to result in widespread carbon loss. Instead, the lengthening growing season is expected to stimulate plant growth, which combined with unchanging decomposition could increase the rate of carbon sequestration.

Until the droughts set in, that is.....