<p>A team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst that specializes in accounting for the carbon dioxide release by streams, rivers and lakes recently demonstrated that the chemical process known as “carbonate buffering” can account for the majority of emissions in highly alkaline waters. Furthermore, carbonate buffering distorts the most commonly used method of tracking the origins of CO<sub>2</sub> in streams. The research, published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GB007860" target="_blank">Global Biogeochemical Cycles</a>, proposes a better method for tracking the origin of riverine CO<sub>2</sub> emissions.</p>