Arctic tundra now emits planet-warming pollution, federal report finds

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By Barbara Moran, NPR. 

Excerpt: Arctic tundra, which has stored carbon for thousands of years, has now become a source of planet-warming pollution. As wildfires increase and hotter temperatures melt long-frozen ground, the region is releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The finding was reported in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's annual Arctic Report Card, released Tuesday. The new research, led by scientists from the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts, signals a dramatic shift in this Arctic ecosystem, which could have widespread implications for the global climate. NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said ..."This is yet one more sign, predicted by scientists, of the consequences of inadequately reducing fossil fuel pollution." ...Permafrost is full of carbon that has been locked away by plants over millennia. But last year's permafrost temperatures were the second warmest on record, hastening melting of the frozen soil. Once the ground thaws, microbes in the soil become active and consume the newly available carbon, releasing it into the atmosphere as methane and carbon dioxide.... 

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