Petri Nummi blames beavers for global warming and rising water levels

Cows have been blamed for global warming. So have earthworms, household pets and even human emissions while riding a bike. Now the latest culprits are beavers…well, according to a scientist speaking in Helsinki.

“An increase in the number of beavers has an impact on the climate since a rising water level affects the interaction between beaver ponds, water and air, as well as the carbon balance of the zone of ground closest to water,” says Petri Nummi, University Lecturer at the University of Helsinki, Finland.

Watts Up With That published the details on Nummi’s paper: Petri Nummi et al. Beavers affect carbon biogeochemistry: both short-term and long-term processes are involved, Mammal Review (2018). DOI: 10.1111/mam.12134.

Enigineering & Technology noted that “There is an indication of beaver ponds becoming carbon sinks or sources of the gas and it is estimated that these ponds and meadows could potentially release up to 820,000 tons of carbon annually.”

“People today obviously have no idea of what pond and stream ecosystems are like in their natural state, since research in the field only began after beavers were taken out of the picture,” says Nummi.

Watts summarized the history of the beaver the population, how they used to be hunted and presume the correlation of a growing beaver community and the global temperature – read here.

photo/ Pete Linforth

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