by Matteo Cavallito<\/p>\n
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Erosion of Arctic permafrost<\/strong> in coastal areas impacts the ocean’s ability to capture CO2, ultimately affecting climate. This is the hypothesis put forward by a group of scientists in a study<\/a> by the University of Hamburg<\/strong>‘s Cluster of Excellence published in the journal Nature Climate Change. Due to the low water temperature, the authors point out, the Arctic Ocean absorbs a particularly high amount of carbon relative to its size. Due to climate change and other factors, however, this effect will be less pronounced in the future.<\/p>\n “More than 90% of the ocean uptake of atmospheric CO2<\/strong> occurs in polar and subpolar regions,” the research states.”Over the Arctic shelves, CO2 uptake is estimated at ~70\u2009TgC\u2009yr\u22121 (70 million tonnes per year, ed.), among the largest per unit area in the globe. However, the sensitivity of the ocean CO2 uptake to coastal permafrost erosion is uncertain, especially as climate change progresses into the future.”<\/p>\n