Net ecosystem productivity in the contiguous United States in January and July. (IMAGE)
Caption
Cooler colors indicate rivers that are taking in more carbon dioxide than they’re emitting, acting as carbon sinks. Conversely, warmer colors indicate that respiration exceeds photosynthesis, and the rivers are a source of greenhouse gas emissions. Rivers in the arid West, which have traditionally been excluded from river metabolism studies, show markedly different patterns than the East — notably in the prevalence of carbon sinks in July. Including western rivers in the analysis showed that rivers may be a much smaller source of carbon emissions than previously thought, and because arid environments are prevalent around the world, they may even be a carbon sink at the global level.
Credit
Credit: Maavara et al./Science 2025
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