QINGHAI-TIBET PLATEAU — A study published in the journal Nature on June 20, 2026, revealed that thawing permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau enhances rock weathering, a process that can offset or exceed river CO2 emissions in specific areas. Researchers from Umea University in Sweden and East China Normal University in China conducted the study.

The research team examined 50 rivers across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, utilizing an analysis that included river CO2 emissions, dissolved carbon, isotopic tracers, and geochemical models. Thawing permafrost exposes minerals that were previously buried, leading to increased interaction between water and rock surfaces.

This increased interaction accelerates chemical weathering, a process that consumes atmospheric CO2. On average, rock weathering offsets approximately 35 percent of river CO2 emissions across the study area. Areas categorized by continuous permafrost exhibited modest offsets of river CO2 emissions.

In contrast, regions with discontinuous or isolated permafrost experienced carbon uptake driven by weathering that, in some instances, surpassed 100 percent of river CO2 emissions. Liwei Zhang, a biogeochemist at East China Normal University, said, "We found that river CO 2 emissions decline while carbon uptake through rock weathering increases as permafrost cover decreases." He added, "In some catchments where permafrost has become patchier, weathering-driven carbon uptake was large enough to offset or even exceed river CO 2 emissions."

Jan Karlsson, a professor at the Department of Ecology, Environment and Geoscience at Umea University, said, "Our findings show that biological and geological carbon cycles are tightly linked." He continued, "To understand whether thawing permafrost ultimately amplifies or dampens climate warming, we need to consider both the carbon released from ancient soils and the carbon consumed through rock weathering." The study authors state that current climate and carbon cycle models do not fully represent the mechanism of weathering-driven carbon uptake in thawing environments.