In Alaska's largest river delta, tundra that has been scorched by wildfire, is still emitting more methane than the rest of the landscape long after the flames died, scientists have found. The potent greenhouse gas can originate from decomposing carbon stored in permafrost for thousands of years. Its release could accelerate climate warming and lead to more frequent wildfires in the tundra, where blazes have been historically rare. The new study, published in Environmental Research Letters, was
Flight-collected data links methane plumes to tundra fires in western Alaska phys.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from phys.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Apr 19, 2023 -
The green light streaking across the cloudy sky was something that Daichi Fujii had never seen before. The museum curator s motion-detecting cameras were set up near Japan s Mount Fuji to capture me
Earth Day Connections: NASA Investigates Vegetation
A visualization of greenness change over Canada and Alaska. Credit: NASA s Goddard Space Flight Center
By Kate Ramsayer,
In Brief:
From the vantage point of space, NASA’s fleet of Earth-observing satellites investigates connections between ecosystems that are continents apart, or right next door.
Part II
From the vantage point of space, NASA’s fleet of Earth-observing satellites joins with those of partner interagency and international agencies to investigate and illuminate connections between ecosystems that are continents apart, or right next door. With a global perspective, scientists can observe how factors like deforestation, climate change and disasters impact forests and other plant life – while also studying how changes in vegetation impact air quality, waterways and the climate. Vegetation is the primary energy source for nearly all life on Earth, so monitoring it and forecasting how it could be impacted by cl
Credit: NASA s Goddard Space Flight Center
Before its September 2018 launch, the ICESat-2 mission team was focused on making sure the satellite met its science requirements, said Tom Neumann, the mission’s project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. And it has, by precisely measuring the height of the ice sheets at Earth’s poles, of sea ice floes above the ocean waters, and of forest canopies.
The satellite’s continuous coverage around the globe, with height measurements of Earth’s surface taken every 2.3 feet (70 centimeters) along its ground path, has made ICESat-2 datasets appealing to those studying rivers, coastal regions, forests and more, he said.