The Greenhouse Gas Burden of Inland Waters

https://eos.org/research-spotlights/the-greenhouse-gas-burden-of-inland-waters

By Aaron Sidder, Eos/AGU. 

Excerpt: In a new pair of studies, a global team of scientists reassessed greenhouse gas emissions stemming from rivers, streams, lakes, and reservoirs. ...The study authors found that inland waters contribute 5.5 petagrams of CO₂ per year, of which one third emanates from South American rivers. Meanwhile, inland waters emit 82–135 teragrams of CH₄ annually, one third of which comes from North American and Russian lakes. N₂O emissions were comparatively small at 248–590 gigagrams N₂O per year, and a quarter of N₂O emissions stem from North American inland waters. ...Inland waters could represent approximately 20% of the total global CH₄ emissions, the authors found. In contrast, the contributions of inland waters to the global CO₂ and N₂O budgets are relatively minor....