Carbon and Nitrogen Release Due to Melting Permafrost in Arctic River Deltas

Nature Communications, 29 May 2026

The soils of Arctic river deltas store large amounts of carbon and nitrogen that have been locked away in frozen ground for thousands of years. This study estimates that these deltas contain 58 gigatons of carbon and 4 gigatons of nitrogen, despite covering less than 1% of the Arctic’s permafrost area. About two-thirds of these stores remain frozen in permafrost, making them increasingly vulnerable as the Arctic continues to warm two to four times faster than the global average. As permafrost thaws and erosion increases, more of this previously frozen carbon and nitrogen could become available for decomposition and enter the atmosphere as greenhouse gases, creating an additional source of climate warming. The findings identify Arctic river deltas as an important but previously overlooked component of the global carbon cycle and highlight the need to better understand how these rapidly changing landscapes will respond to continued warming.

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