Scientists begin studying CO₂ concentrations in rivers as part of the fight against global warming

The large-scale study launched will assess the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions in the Arctic and Siberia.

Photo by: Michal Balada / iStock

In August, scientists from Vladivostok, Moscow, Tomsk and Yakutsk conducted a comprehensive expedition on the Lena River. The participants of the scientific journey travelled about 1,500 kilometres to measure the carbon concentration in the water of one of the country’s largest rivers, the press service of Tomsk State University (TSU) said.

The university said it was the first time such a study had been conducted. The expedition included hydrologists, ecologists, soil scientists, permafrost experts and other specialists. They took soil samples, the analysis of which will make it possible to assess the intensity of carbon dioxide production and emission in the Russian Arctic zone.

“For the first time in the history of Russian research, the emission of climatically active gases — carbon dioxide and methane — was directly measured from the water surface along the route. This will help us assess the contribution that one of Siberia’s great rivers makes to the supply of carbon to the atmosphere, its transport to the Arctic Ocean and climate formation,” clarified Viktor Nikitin, a member of the TSU Laboratory of Diversity and Ecology at the TSU Research Institute of BB, who participated in the expedition.

TSU scientists began their research back in 2016. At that time, specialists from Sweden, Scotland, France and Russia collected samples from 210 rivers and lakes, including Siberia’s largest waterways — the Ob, Yenisei and Lena — as part of the international SIWA project “Siberian Inland Waters”. The new research will find out how the figures have changed over six years.

The 2022 study differs from previous ones in its broad coverage of various ecosystems. According to Viktor Demin, First Vice Rector of TSU, the area of interest of the project covers not only the catchments of the main rivers of the Siberian region, but also the Arctic shelf with the adjacent part of the Arctic Ocean.

A variety of biomes (sets of ecosystems) in Siberia and the Arctic, including forests, tundra, wetland landscapes, and so on, are considered.

Assessing the carbon cycle in the Arctic land-shelf system will help improve the accuracy of modelling the effects of global warming.

Scientists will be able to make more detailed predictions about what changes in climate and the environment humanity may face in the near future and in the medium term. Forecasting models are needed to develop ways to adapt the people of Siberia and the Arctic and to create effective approaches to mitigate the undesirable effects of the global transformation of climatic conditions.

Cover photo: Anders Jildén / iStock