Scientists continue to work to overcome the increasingly critical climate crisis. While new configurations are being implemented to prevent the warming of the atmosphere, a new research has revealed another greenhouse gas source that has a great contribution to global warming.
Researchers have revealed that a frozen soil type called ‘Yedoma’, which covers an area of more than one million square kilometers in the northern hemisphere, is greatly triggering global warming. Examining the region of northern Siberia with the Lena and Kolyma rivers, researchers discovered that the organically rich soil of Yedoma releases a huge amount of a greenhouse gas called nitrous oxide (N2O).
It causes global warming 300 times more than carbon dioxide:
Sharing that the frozen soil structure releases carbon and nitrogen with sudden meltdowns, scientists state that this event is frequently experienced in the riversides in the polar region. The nitrous oxide released from the soil of Yedoma is formed thanks to the microbes in the soil. But here’s the critical part of this event: nitrous oxide is not as abundant in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and methane gas. However, its effect on global warming is 300 times greater than that of carbon dioxide in a century.
Based on their previous studies, the researchers were of the opinion that frozen soil structures could not have a major impact on climate change. The reason for this was the thought that the nitrogen cycle of arctic soil types was quite slow. However, scientists are of the opinion that in the light of this new information, more research should be done on how these soil types will affect climate change.
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