A major investigation into the impact of thawing permafrost and the subsequent release of frozen carbon on coastlines in the Siberian Arctic has been announced today (Tuesday 3 July).<\/p>\n
The UK Natural Environment Research Council<\/a> and Germany\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Federal Ministry of Education and Research have joined forces for the first time to launch their \u00c2\u00a38 million Changing Arctic Ocean research programme<\/a>. The programme aims to investigate how climate change is affecting the Arctic Ocean. It has funded twelve projects to carry out crucial research in one of the most inhospitable regions on the planet to better understand, and predict, changes to the Arctic marine environment.<\/p>\n As part of this international project, Dr Paul Mann<\/a> from Northumbria University\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences<\/a> has been named as the lead on the \u00e2\u201a\u00ac800,000 CACOON project<\/a>; Changing Arctic Carbon Cycle in the Coastal Ocean Nearshore.<\/p>\n The Arctic region houses enormous quantities of carbon locked away in frozen soil and ice, known as permafrost. The quantity of carbon in permafrost far exceeds the amount held in forests or in the atmosphere, so any change in the amount of carbon released in this area is of huge global concern.<\/p>\n When permafrost in soil and ice thaws, it leads to changes in the type of organic matter that finds its way into rivers. This changes the amount and type of carbon and nutrients that flow from the major Arctic rivers into the ocean. The CACOON project aims to assess how these changes will impact on biology across the East Siberian coast. Read more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A major investigation into the impact of thawing permafrost and the subsequent release of frozen carbon on coastlines in the Siberian Arctic has been announced today (Tuesday 3 July). The UK Natural Environment Research Council and Germany\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Federal Ministry of Education and Research have joined forces for the first time to launch their \u00c2\u00a38 million … <\/p>\n