"KODIAK ISLAND, Alaska -- Billions of tons of carbon are buried in the frozen Arctic tundra, now heating up because of human-caused climate change. To measure which greenhouse gases are being released and in what quantities, government scientists are flying instrument-laden planes over the tundra from now through November.

They say recent observations indicate that the air above Alaska 'may already hold the first signs of a regional increase in greenhouse gas emissions' that could contribute to global climate change.

'Recent observations could be isolated cases or part of a vast regional change in emissions that could accelerate climate warming to a more dangerous pace. We don't know yet,' said Colm Sweeney, of NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. 'We're eager to find out.'

Sweeney heads a NOAA aircraft project that samples greenhouse gases around the country. In addition, the lab monitors the gases from 60 sites worldwide."

Environment News Service had the story August 24, 2009. [2]