ALASKA!!!

Guest

I hope you are having a great time in Alaska. Here is one of my two questions.
1. What is CO2 flux, and how is this connected to alaska?

Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 74 Location: Barrow, AK

Hello, Tony!
Well, CO2 flux is a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide and in which direction it is flowing, toward the ground or away from the ground. This tells us if the plants, etc on the ground are creating more CO2 than is being used or vice versa. Plants use CO2 in photosynthesis and decomposition of plants creates CO2.
The reason that CO2 flux is being measured in Alaska is because the frozen part of the tundra, called permafrost, holds a lot of non-decomposed plant material. Global warming can melt the permafrost to a deeper level and free up more plant material to decompose. This releases more CO2 into the air, which increases global warming, which further melts the tundra. So you can see how this cycle would keep increasing. However, the other thought is that more CO2 in the air will cause more plants to grow and a balance will be reached.
Since the Arctic and tundra are so sensitive to this raising of temperature, research here can be very revealing about which kind of cycle is really occurring.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Mrs. N-O