Temporary rivers also affect global CO2 emissions
Freshwaters play an important role in the global cycle of carbon due the decomposition of terrestrial plants which stimulates atmospheric emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂). Despite having this impact, the role of temporary rivers -in which water stops flowing at some time during the year and can completely dry up- is unknown. An international collaboration project led by Thubault Datry, from IRSTEA (France), with the participation of researchers Núria Cid and Núria Bonada, from the Faculty of Biology and the Biodiversity Research Institute of the UB (IRBio), conducted the first global study on the contribution of temporary rivers to the carbon cycle that controls climate in the planet.
The study, published in the science journal Nature Geoscience , shows these rivers have high levels of oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. According to the researchers, these results show the importance of the study of temporary rivers to know about the contribution of global water networks to CO₂ release into the atmosphere, especially when having in mind that there will be more rivers like these due the effects of climate change and the increasing water demand.