Abstract
We analysed the effect of the 2018 European drought on greenhouse gas (GHG) exchange of five North European mire ecosystems. The low precipitation and high summer temperatures in Fennoscandia led to a lowered water table in the majority of these mires. This lowered both carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake and methane (CH4) emission during 2018, turning three out of the five mires from CO2 sinks to sources. The calculated radiative forcing showed that the drought-induced changes in GHG fluxes first resulted in a cooling effect lasting 15–50 years, due to the lowered CH4 emission, which was followed by warming due to the lower CO2 uptake.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Impacts of the 2018 severe drought and heatwave in Europe: from site to continental scale’.
Highlights
During the summer of 2018, Northwestern Europe experienced an exceptional drought and heatwave, affecting Fennoscandian mire ecosystems [1,2,3]
Northern mire ecosystems are characterized by two considerable greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes, viz. carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake and methane (CH4) emission, that generate opposite radiative forcing (RF) [5]
Temperatures in the selected reference years were close to the 30-year averages during the summer periods at the three northernmost sites, while at the two southernmost sites, the reference summertime temperatures were somewhat higher than the 30-year mean
Summary
During the summer of 2018, Northwestern Europe experienced an exceptional drought and heatwave, affecting Fennoscandian mire ecosystems [1,2,3]. The drought and associated warm temperatures can alter the short-term hydrological status of mire ecosystems, leading to alterations in biogeochemical processes within these ecosystems. These changes can have a drastic effect on greenhouse gas (GHG) exchange between the mires and the atmosphere [4]. Carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake and methane (CH4) emission, that generate opposite radiative forcing (RF) [5]. E.g. over millennia, carbon uptake and storage as peat, i.e. sequestration of CO2 from the atmosphere, results in a climate cooling effect. On the other hand, has an intense short-term warming effect on the atmospheric radiative balance [6]
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