Reservoirs produce 1.3% of all greenhouse gases generated by humans, says study!

Washington: The world's fight against global warming and its impact has been a long-standing one. Statistics, data and reports of rising global surface temperatures are increasingly becoming a cause of concern.

According to a new study conducted by researchers from Washington University, reservoirs are huge contributors in the generation of global warming.

The study noted that reservoirs produce the equivalent of about one gigatonne of carbon dioxide a year or 1.3 percent of all greenhouse gases produced by humans.

They are a particularly significant source of methane, a greenhouse gas that is 34 times more potent than carbon dioxide over the course of a century.

Reservoir methane production is comparable to rice paddies or biomass burning, both of which are included in emission estimates of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the leading international authority on the subject.

"We had a sense that methane might be pretty important but we were surprised that it was as important as it was," said Bridget Deemer, WSU research associate and lead author.

"Its contributing right around 80 per cent of the total global warming impact of all those gases from reservoirs. Its a pretty important piece of the budget," said Deemer.

The researchers acknowledge that reservoirs provide important services like electrical power, flood control, navigation and water.

However, reservoirs have also altered the dynamics of river ecosystems, impacting fish and other life forms. Only lately have researchers started to look at reservoirs impact on greenhouse gases.'

Unlike natural water bodies, reservoirs tend to have flooded large amounts of organic matter that produce carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide as they decompose.

Unlike natural water bodies, reservoirs tend to have flooded large amounts of organic matter that produce carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide as they decompose.

The research was published in the journal BioScience.

(With PTI inputs)