The role of methane in rising global temperatures is underestimated, and annual natural CH₄ emissions into the atmosphere may significantly exceed the figures stated in reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This is the conclusion reached by Russian scientists studying the fluxes of greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO₂), and methane (CH₄) in the Arctic "land–shelf–atmosphere" system. To conduct a detailed investigation of methane emissions on the Arctic shelf, an Arctic carbon monitoring site (carbon polygon) is required—a laboratory that will enable precise measurements and real-time data collection. New-generation climate models will be developed based on this data. Igor Petrovich Semiletov, Corresponding Member of the RAS, discussed these objectives in an interview with the "Scientific Russia" portal.
Why has the Arctic shelf's contribution to the greenhouse gas balance been underestimated? How vast are the methane reserves on the Arctic shelf, and how much of it could be released into the atmosphere during permafrost degradation? How can climate research impact the prestige of Russian science globally?
Corresponding Member of the RAS I.P. Semiletov
Photo: Elena Librik / Scientific Russia (Nauchnaya Rossiya)
