This study presents observational evidence of increasing methane emissions in the early summer months (June and July) at a permafrost site in the Lena River Delta, Siberia. Using the longest eddy covariance methane flux data set in the Arctic (2002-2019), the researchers found a significant increase in methane emissions (1.9 ± 0.7% yr⁻¹) correlated with a strong air temperature rise (0.3 ± 0.1 °C yr⁻¹) in June. This increase in early summer emissions, despite unchanged peak emissions in August, indicates that atmospheric warming significantly affects permafrost methane flux dynamics.

Norman Rößger, Torsten Sachs, Christian Wille, Julia Boike, Lars Kutzbach