Arctic warming effects and climate impacts

Siberian Peatlands

Roach, John. "Melting Arctic Bogs May Hasten Warming, Study Says." National Geographic News. Dec. 1, 2004

In this article, Roach interviews leading experts on global warming to look at new trends, focusing on an area in Siberia. He reports that although Earth as a whole is warming, the Arctic seems to be warming at twice the rate of the rest of the planet, which may have significant effects on the planet as w whole. Places where warming has accelerated are called "hot spots." An area in West Siberia holds the largest peatlands in the world. Peatlands have specific attributes that may affect global warming.

Well-functioning peatlands may act as "carbon sinks." A carbon sink is an area of land where the vegetation uses excess carbon dioxide, removing it from the atmosphere (Ramanujan, 2002). When peatlands function well, they have abundant vegetation to use carbon dioxide in the process of photosynthesis. However, as the West Siberian peatlands warm, they may dry up. However, when peatlands stop functioning this way, they start breaking down. As they break down, they release both methane and carbon dioxide as gases that get added to our atmosphere.

As of now, the Siberian peat bogs still absorb more gases than they release. Scientists are concerned, however, that this may reverse, resulting in a subtle acceleration in the rate of global warming. Scientists acknowledge that the concern is speculative, but see it as a viable scenario, because they know that some areas of the planet are clearly warming enough to cause climactic changes. Right now this occurs in areas where multiple factors contribute to the warming effect. This is occurring right now in the Arctic, where warming has resulted in increased melting of snow and ice. This has effects beyond the increased fresh water released by the melt, because the snow and ice reflect 85% to 90% of the sunlight received in the area back into the atmosphere, helping to keep the area cold. This cycle of less reflective surface and more melt becomes a circle activity where each event encourages the other to continue to take place.

Global warming is a serious environmental concern because its affects will eventually reach every part of the planet. More fresh water dilutes the salinity of the ocean and causes the ocean to rise. Temperature changes may change ocean current patterns. Eventually, every environmental aspect of life on Earth could be effected. Since 1954, scientists have found that the temperature on Earth has risen by one degree (Farenheit).

The example of the Siberian peatlands is only one example of the effects global warming may bring, but it is a concern because these peatlands are so big that they could release significant amounts of gases. Researchers estimate that these peatlands have been absorbing carbon dioxide for nearly 12,000 years. Other scientists urge caution in predicting both the thaw of these peatlands and the potential impact of the event, because core samples reveal that the bogs have gone through warming and cooling patterns in the past. Rather than focus on one geographic area, they urge that we focus on the cumulative effect of all the greenhouse gases being released.