Nature – Deanet al. (2025): Old carbon routed from land to the atmosphere by global river systems
Joshua F. Dean, Gemma Coxon, Yanchen Zheng, Jack Bishop, Mark H. Garnett, David Bastviken, Valier Galy, Robert G. M. Spencer, Suzanne E. Tank, Edward T. Tipper, Jorien E. Vonk, Marcus B. Wallin, Liwei Zhang, Chris D. Evans and Robert G. Hilton IN: Nature, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09023-w
Until now, CO2 and CH4 emitted from rivers were thought to be predominantly derived from recent (sub-decadal) biomass production and, thus, part of ecosystem respiration. Here the authors combine new and published measurements to create a global database of the radiocarbon content of river dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), CO2 and CH4.