RIV-ESCAPE: RIVEr emissions of greenhouse gases from warming landSCAPES

A research project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant scheme 2022-2027.

Large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) are released from the surface of rivers each year, with global estimates that total over 2 PgC/yr. River CO2 and CH4 could act as a leak of carbon (C) back to the atmosphere over the coming decades.

However, we have been unable to assess how much these fluxes could change, and if old C may be emitted from the surface of rivers to the atmosphere.

To move forward, the RIV-ESCAPE team will focus on three key questions: i) how do river flow dynamics and C supply combine to drive CO2 and CH4 release from rivers and link C emissions to climate? ii) do high latitude rivers release old C as CO2 and CH4? and iii) how will the age, source and fluxes of CO2 and CH4 from rivers respond to ongoing and future warming?

Over a five year period from June 2022, the principal investigator Bob Hilton and the Team at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, UK, will tackle these questions with the RIV-ESCAPE team.