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Significant implications of permafrost thawing for climate change control

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  • Mikel González-Eguino

    (Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3)
    University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU))

  • Marc B. Neumann

    (Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3)
    IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science)

Abstract

Large amounts of carbon are stored as permafrost within the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. As permafrost thaws due to climate warming, carbon dioxide and methane are released. Recent studies indicate that the pool of carbon susceptible to future thaw is higher than was previously thought and that more carbon could be released by 2100, even under low emission pathways. We use an integrated model of the climate and the economy to study how including these new estimates influence the control of climate change to levels that will likely keep the temperature increase below 2 °C (radiative forcing of 2.6 Wm−2). According to our simulations, the fossil fuel and industrial CO2 emissions need to peak 5–10 years earlier and the carbon budget needs to be reduced by 6–17 % to offset this additional source of warming. The required increase in carbon price implies a 6–21 % higher mitigation cost to society compared to a situation where emissions from permafrost are not considered. Including other positive climate feedbacks, currently not accounted for in integrated assessment models, could further increase these numbers.

Suggested Citation

  • Mikel González-Eguino & Marc B. Neumann, 2016. "Significant implications of permafrost thawing for climate change control," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 381-388, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:136:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s10584-016-1666-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-016-1666-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Heiko Wirths & Joachim Rathmann & Peter Michaelis, 2018. "The permafrost carbon feedback in DICE-2013R modeling and empirical results," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 20(1), pages 109-124, January.
    2. Haris Doukas & Alexandros Nikas & Mikel González-Eguino & Iñaki Arto & Annela Anger-Kraavi, 2018. "From Integrated to Integrative: Delivering on the Paris Agreement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-10, July.

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