Telling numbers: Role of mountain streams in carbon cycle, newly assessed | Explained News, The Indian Express

Telling numbers: Role of mountain streams in carbon cycle, newly assessed | Explained News, The Indian Express

By Express News Service |Published: October 28, 2019 12:55:43 pm

Telling numbers: Role of mountain streams in carbon cycle, newly assessed

Mountain streams have a higher average carbon dioxide emission rate per square metre than streams at lower altitudes, due in part to the additional turbulence caused as water flows down slopes.

Yamunotri — Source of river Yamuna. Scientists have reported the findings of the first large-scale study of the carbon dioxide emissions of mountain streams, and their role in global carbon fluxes. (Source: iStock/Getty Images Plus/File)

Mountains cover 25 per cent of the Earth’s surface, and the streams draining these mountains account for more than a third of the global runoff. What had not yet been evaluated, however, was the role mountain streams play in global carbon fluxes (the carbon exchanged between various carbon pools on Earth). So far, scientists had focused mainly on streams and rivers in low-altitude tropical and boreal regions.