Greenhouse Gas Emission from Inland Open Water Bodies and Their Estimation Process—An Emerging Issue in the Era of Climate Change

Abstract

The persistent rise in concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the earth’s atmosphere is responsible for global warming and climate change. Besides the known source of GHGs emissions like energy, industry, and agriculture, intrinsic emissions from natural inland water bodies like wetland, rivers, reservoirs, estuaries, etc. have also been identified as other hotspots of GHGs emission and gaining the attention of the scientific communities in recent times. Inland fisheries in India are threatened by climate changes such as a change in temperature, precipitation, droughts, storm, sea-level rise, saltwater intrusion, floods that affect mostly the production, productivity and ultimately affect the fishers’ livelihood. There are, however, different mitigation and adaptation strategies to cope with the effects of climate change. Carbon sequestration and other related management interventions are one of the options available minimizing GHGs emissions from inland open waters, particularly the wetlands and coastal mangroves which are well known worldwide for their significant role in the storage of carbon. Assessment of C efflux from exposed sediments in dry streams, reservoirs, lakes, rivers, and ponds into the atmosphere can be considered imperative for a better understanding of their role as a C-sink or as a C-source to the atmosphere.