One of the World's Largest Carbon Time Bombs: Unveiling the Massive Logjam Hidden in the Arctic
The Mackenzie River Delta in the N.W.T. is home to the world's largest known cumulative logjam.
Unfortunately, this logjam is storing a huge amount of carbon.
Logjams like the one in the Mackenzie River Delta have been overlooked in terms of their impact on the carbon cycle and the environment.
The logjam covers an area almost as large as Manhattan and consists of 400,000 miniature caches of wood.
Trees act as carbon sinks, absorbing carbon dioxide and storing it in their wood.
The logjam in the Mackenzie River Delta stores approximately 3.4 million tons of carbon, equivalent to two and a half million car emissions in a year.
Driftwood accumulates in the Arctic due to the transport of fallen trees from the boreal forests and high-latitude rivers.
The Arctic's rapid warming, which is four times faster than the global average, could affect the logjam and the carbon cycle.
Understanding the carbon storage potential of logjams can contribute to climate change mitigation strategies.
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