Grant: Advancing Climate Change Science in Canada

In the Anthropocene, human-driven changes to carbon cycles alter global and local climates and hence all*aspects of economy and human life. The subarctic is 1/6 of the Canadian land mass but a poorly studied area*where human habitation is sparse and rates of resource extraction are increasing. The central and western*subarctic is particularly vulnerable to climate change effects (temperature and precipitation) due to extensive*permafrost, large stores of carbon, and low annual precipitation. Carbon fluxes to the atmosphere from surface*water bodies as greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide and methane) is a balance between carbon sources from*terrestrial systems including wetlands and lake/pond margins and carbon stored in sediments. This loss from*surface water bodies is large and complicates our ability to quantify the effect of climate change and human*activities on this large region. This proposal examines the landscape-scale carbon balance in three areas along a*transect from south to north covering conditions of continuous, widespread discontinuous, and sporadic*discontinuous permafrost. We use a combination of hydroclimatic information, chemical analysis, highly*specialized isotopic techniques, remote sensing, and numerical modelling to improve our quantitative*understanding and forecasting of carbon dynamics, greenhouse gas production, carbon stores and the critical*carbon balance between long-term storage in sediments (carbon sequestration) and release to the atmosphere*(increasing greenhouse gases). We have formed a strong research team including Canadian and international*research scientists from universities, territorial and federal governments, students, and Indigenous*communities. Research outcomes will inform science-based management and policy decisions and delivery of*climate change actions for Canada's north and Canada's obligations for international reporting on greenhouse*gas emissions.