Background Articles

After years of assessments, a major step forward in riverbank stabilization for the Kuskokwim Delta coastal community has been derailed by wide-ranging cuts to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Better knowledge and mapping of existing infrastructure is leading to a new estimate of future thaw costs under varying climate scenarios.

UAF undergraduate Leanne Bulger discovered a persistent hole in a Fairbanks forest emitting unusually high CO₂ levels—likely due to thawing permafrost microbes—and led a team using probes, gas analyzers, and radar to study its depth and gas flux.

A new study using advanced mapping techniques reveals that infrastructure damage costs in Alaska due to permafrost thaw could be significantly higher than previously estimated, potentially reaching $37B to $51B under medium and high emission scenarios.