Читать книгу Shaped by Snow. Defending the Future of Winter онлайн
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As the planet warms, these carbon sinks are becoming carbon emitters. When we cut down forests, we not only remove organisms that pull carbon dioxide from the air, but we usually burn them or convert them into other materials, releasing carbon emissions. The ocean is one of the planet’s most important carbon sinks, absorbing approximately 30 percent of carbon emitted by humans. But as the temperature of the ocean warms, its ability to dissolve carbon diminishes. And when the permafrost melts with the heating of the poles, which are some of the fastest-warming places on earth, carbon in the form of both carbon dioxide and methane could be released in a massive “burp.” Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases, trapping heat about twenty times more effectively than carbon dioxide does. There is almost twice as much carbon stored in the permafrost than there is in the atmosphere today, so the melting permafrost will have very alarming consequences for climate change.
Along with the poles, mountains are already feeling the effects of climate change more than places at lower elevations. Elevations over thirteen thousand feet are heating up to 75 percent faster than elevations under six thousand. Winters are expected to warm four to ten degrees by the end of the twenty-first century. Alpine ecosystems might be hardy when it comes to surviving frosts, blizzards, and thick snowpack, but they’re delicate when it comes to climate change.