NOAA’s 2024 Arctic Report Card says tundra is now a net source of carbon to the atmosphere
Holistic pan-Arctic carbon assessment reviews the climate drivers impacting carbon storage and emissions across the Arctic region, including thawing permafrost and wildfires
A thaw slump in Canada’s Northwest Territories.
photo by Scott Zolkos
A chapter of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) 2024 Arctic Report Card, published today, presents a new, comprehensive pan-Arctic carbon assessment that, when accounting for wildfire emissions, finds that the Arctic tundra has shifted from storing carbon to being a source of carbon emissions to the atmosphere.
While the Arctic has been a carbon “sink” for thousands of years—storing more carbon than it releases—the Arctic Report Card chapter, Arctic Terrestrial Carbon Cycling, explores how rapid Arctic warming is prompting a range of ecosystem changes that are leading to increased emissions throughout the region. Among these are thawing permafrost (perennially frozen ground), wildfires, and plant and microbial changes.
graphic courtesy of NOAA
In particular, the assessment, led by scientists at Woodwell Climate Research Center, finds that 2024 marked the second-warmest average yearly permafrost temperatures on record for Alaska, and the second-highest year for wildfire emissions north of the Arctic Circle.
“The Arctic is warming up to four times the global rate, and we need accurate, holistic, and comprehensive knowledge of how climate changes will affect the amount of carbon the Arctic is taking up and storing, and how much it’s releasing back into the atmosphere, in order to effectively address this crisis,” said Dr. Sue Natali, Woodwell Climate scientist, chapter lead and lead of Woodwell Climate’s Permafrost Pathways project. “This report represents a critical step toward quantifying these emissions at scale which is critical for understanding their impacts on global climate and informing equitable mitigation and adaptation strategies.”
map by Greg Fiske
“In recent years, we’ve seen how increasing fire activity from climate change threatens both communities and the carbon stored in permafrost, but now we’re beginning to be able to measure the cumulative impact to the atmosphere, and it’s significant,” said Dr. Brendan Rogers, Woodwell Climate scientist, chapter co-author, and co-lead of Woodwell Climate’s Permafrost Pathways project.
“This year’s report demonstrates the urgent need for adaptation as climate conditions quickly change,” said Twila Moon, lead editor of the 2024 Arctic Report Card and deputy lead scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center. “Indigenous Knowledge and community-led research programs can inform successful responses to rapid Arctic changes.”
Contributions to the chapter were also made by Woodwell Climate scientists, Dr. Kyle Arndt, Dr. Jacqueline Hung, Greg Fiske, Stefano Potter, and Dr. Anna Virkkala, as well as collaborators at University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Northern Arizona University, and Université de Montréal.
The Arctic Report Card combines the best available research from over 97 scientists from 11 countries, including seven from Woodwell Climate. Its chapters reveal record-setting observations of a rapidly warming Arctic, including rising air temperatures, declines of large inland caribou herds, and increasing precipitation. These climate impacts and others threaten the health, subsistence, and homes of many Indigenous communities living in the Arctic.
The full Arctic Report Card can be read here.
