Woodwell Climate Research Center

In 2024, we hosted our inaugural organization-wide photo contest - and we have winners! All throughout January, enjoy the impact of Woodwell Climate through our winning photos. 📸 In The Office Category - Photos of your “office,” however you define it: 🥇 Sarah Moore As part of the Communications Team’s “photo scavenger hunt” Climate Café, Sarah shared her appreciation for the Facilities Team, who installed this bookshelf in her office—Sarah installed the lovely books and decorations.

In 2024, we hosted our inaugural organization-wide photo contest - and we have winners! All throughout January, enjoy the impact of Woodwell Climate through our winning photos. 📸 Tools of the Trade Category - Images of scientific, computing, or modeling equipment: 🥇 Christina Minions On a Permafrost Pathways trip to Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Marco Montemayor cleans the mirrors of a methane analyzer on an eddy covariance flux tower. The team re-established connection with a tower and provided annual maintenance.

In 2024, we hosted our inaugural organization-wide photo contest - and we have winners! All throughout January, enjoy the impact of Woodwell Climate through our winning photos. 📸 Out of Office Category - Research in the field or lab: 🥇 Anna Liljedahl Anna and collaborators did summer permafrost hydrology fieldwork near Jago River in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.

In 2024, we hosted our inaugural organization-wide photo contest - and we have winners! All throughout January, enjoy the impact of Woodwell Climate through our winning photos. 📸 Data is Beautiful Category - Maps, LIDAR, satellite images, permafrost wedges, etc: 🥇 Christina Shintani The beautiful shades of blue in this map represent the extent of permafrost (perennially frozen ground) in Alaska. 80% of Alaskan lands are within the permafrost region. Warming across the Arctic is causing permafrost to thaw, destabilizing the ground, triggering land subsidence, and contributing to flooding and erosion. This map is also featured in Geohipster’s 2025 calendar.

In 2024, we hosted our inaugural organization-wide photo contest - and we have winners! All throughout January, enjoy the impact of Woodwell Climate through our winning photos. 📸 Nature is Art Category - Photos of landscape where we work: 🥇 Kelcy Kent Sea ice at Pond Inlet, a predominantly Inuit community within the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. The Permafrost Pathways Carbon Monitoring team visited the area to install a new eddy covariance flux tower to track year-round carbon fluxes and contribute to data that will allow for better Arctic representation in global carbon policies.

In 2024, we hosted our inaugural organization-wide photo contest - and we have winners! All throughout January, enjoy the impact of Woodwell Climate through our winning photos. 📸 Science is Community Category - Collaboration among researchers: 🥇 Mitch Korolev Zoë Dietrich demonstrates her DIY greenhouse gas chamber to colleagues at Tanguro Field Station in Brazil. Zoë designed and built the low-cost floating chamber herself to autonomously measure carbon emissions from ponds.

A new study led by Anna Virkkala of Woodwell Climate Research Center and an international team of collaborators found that more than one-third of the Arctic-boreal region is now a source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere when northern wildfire emissions are factored in. Congratulations Anna and all co-authors!

A concerning study on Northern Latitudes and the role of #permafrost as a carbon sink just came out, and the news, while not at all unexpected, isn't positive. After millennia of serving as a carbon deep-freezer for the planet, recent studies published in Nature Climate Change reveal concerning shifts in the Arctic-boreal zone (ABZ). The region, encompassing treeless #tundra, boreal #forests, and #wetlands in Earth's #northernlatitudes, now shows a significant change in its #carbon balance. An international team, spearheaded by the Woodwell Climate Research Center, has discovered that approximately 34% of the ABZ has transitioned into a carbon source for the atmosphere. This shift includes the interplay of carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption through plant photosynthesis and subsequent CO2 release via microbial and plant respiration. When factoring in emissions from wildfires, this percentage escalates to 40%. The study represents a comprehensive evaluation of carbon flux dynamics in the ABZ, leveraging an extensive dataset spanning from 1990 to 2020. By analyzing a vast array of CO2 data collected from 200 study sites, the research sheds light on the evolving carbon balance influenced by changing climate patterns and fire occurrences in the north. Utilizing carbon flux monitoring towers and chambers, researchers monitor gas exchanges between the land and the atmosphere, offering insights into the region's respiration and absorption processes. Over three decades, the study highlights notable trends, such as the increase in summer carbon uptake juxtaposed with heightened carbon emissions during non-growing season months. Notably, the study's high-resolution mapping (1km x 1km for 2001–2020) provides a detailed perspective on the spatial distribution of these evolving carbon dynamics, unraveling the geographical nuances behind the observed trendlines. The key takeaway is that the #accelerated #warming that the northern latitudes have been experiencing has more impact than expected, which could bode poorly for #climate in general, as these latitudes hold enormous amounts (Gigatons) of carbon stored as organic matter in the frozen ground, which has the potential to accelerate the overall warming process when the ground melts (#tippingpoint). This acceleration of warming is made worse by the fact that a lot of the permafrost-bound carbon will be released not as CO2, but as Methane (CH4) which is significantly stronger as a #GHG.

A synthesis of carbon flux and wildfire emissions data from across the Arctic-boreal zone between 2001-2020 found that 34% of the region is now a source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Woodwell Climate Research Center

In 2024, we hosted our inaugural organization-wide photo contest - and we have winners! All throughout January, enjoy the impact of Woodwell Climate through our winning photos. 📸 Up Close Category - Detail shots of landscapes, architecture, equipment, etc: 🥇 Jess Howard Kyle Arndt putting some finishing touches on a new carbon flux monitoring tower near Council, Alaska in August 2024 as part of the Permafrost Pathways project. This new tower will provide year-round measurements of both carbon dioxide and methane fluxes.