Arctic Tundra Becoming Source of Carbon Dioxide Emissions
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By noaa.gov.
2024 Arctic Report Card tracks rapid, complex Arctic change.
After storing carbon dioxide in frozen soil for millennia, the Arctic tundra is being transformed by frequent wildfires into an overall source of carbon to the atmosphere, which is already absorbing record levels of heat-trapping fossil fuel pollution.
The transition of the Arctic from a carbon sink to a carbon source is one of the dramatic changes in the Arctic that are documented in NOAA’s 2024 Arctic Report Card. Climatic shifts are forcing plants, wildlife and the people that depend on them to rapidly adapt to a warmer, wetter and less certain world.

New research in the 2024 Arctic Report Card, contributed by 97 scientists from 11 countries, reveals record-setting observations that underlie ongoing changes emerging in the Arctic, which covers the lands and seas of the north polar region. They include:
- Continuing high air temperatures and wildfires.
- Declines of large inland caribou herds.
- Increasing precipitation, including rain-on-snow events that coat the landscape in an icy shell, making travel difficult for people and foraging challenging for wildlife.

Observations also reveal stark regional differences that make local and regional environmental shifts highly unpredictable for people, plants and animals.
“This year’s report demonstrates the urgent need for adaptation as climate conditions quickly change,” said Twila Moon, lead editor of the 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.”

read more at noaa.gov.
