Background Articles

Extreme flooding on Alaska's Arctic highway in 2015 caused thaw-induced sinking in the permafrost terrain up to 3 inches deep, with the most significant effects occurring in ice-rich areas, according to a newly published study.

A new atlas exploring permafrost in the Arctic aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the changes occurring in the region, featuring maps, illustrations, photographs, artwork, and testimonials from Arctic residents and scientists.

A new study suggests that more than 75% of Earth's near-surface permafrost will be gone by the end of the century, leading to major implications for cold-climate regions like Alaska where permafrost covers the majority of the state and thawing is already well underway, resulting in sinking and unstable infrastructure and significant costs for adaptation.

The U.S. Department of the Interior released a 1,200-page supplemental environmental impact study (EIS) on the proposed Ambler Access Road in Alaska, which reveals potentially greater social and environmental impacts than previously thought, including concerns about disrupting traditional hunting and fishing lifestyles and causing permafrost thaw.

A U.S. Energy Department climate scientist visited Utqiaġvik to evaluate research progress on permafrost and climate change, highlighting the importance of accurate measurements and models in predicting future climate patterns in the Arctic.

A research team has discovered that bottom sediment temperatures in the Russian Arctic shelf vary across different regions, with the Kara Sea having higher temperatures due to warm currents and large Siberian rivers, and the Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea having the lowest temperatures and thicker subsea permafrost, which is important for understanding the degradation of permafrost and methane emissions in the region.

Melting permafrost will increase the maintenance costs for critical infrastructure by $15.5 billion by mid-century but unable to prevent some $21.6 billion in damages. Nearly 70% of current infrastructure located on permafrost is at risk, including major oil and gas fields, pipelines, and mines.

The Permafrost and Infrastructure Symposium this month brought together over 50 scientists, engineers and residents this month, creating a space for them to exchange their perspectives on the effects of thawing permafrost in the Arctic.

Scientists from Moscow State University have studied the Lorino cliff in the Chukotka region and discovered that the rapid retreat of the coast is due to the reduction of sea ice, and they recommend that villagers prepare for the transfer of coastal structures further inland.

The damage wrought to the park’s road by melting permafrost is creating a new reality affecting visitors, park staff, local businesses and potentially wildlife.

The Quebec government has allocated over $2 million to research and develop a plan to adapt public housing in Nunavik to the effects of thawing permafrost, which can cause damage to units built on jacks.

Scientists say that rising global temperatures are causing collapsing mountains as ancient permafrost begins to thaw.

Following a thaw slump, the water becomes cloudy and full of sediment, potentially suffocating the eggs of spawning sheefish. Scientists are concerned that permafrost thaw could lead to declines in the sheefish population, a staple food for many Alaskans.

As Alaskan permafrost warms, hibernating arctic ground squirrels generate less heat, causing females to emerge from hibernation up to 10 days before their male counterparts – a mismatch that could have large, cascading ecological impacts. While reduced thermogenesis due to warming temperatures could allow the squirrels to conserve energy and, thus, increase winter survival, a shortened hibernation season could also increase the exposure of the animals to hungry predators, altering mortality rates, particularly for earlier emerging female squirrels. The phenological mismatch between the sexes may also disrupt reproductive rates. And over longer time scales, continued warming in the Arctic may lead to changes in male squirrel seasonal behaviors, say the authors.

Rare tropical permafrost near Mauna Kea's summit is diminishing, with frozen soil patches showing signs of shrinking over time, according to researchers, who suggest there is no lasting way to prevent it from melting.

With Arctic permafrost thaw rapidly outpacing projections, researchers are racing to understand the impacts of an increasingly unstable future.

The State of Alaska recently received $38 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to ease the burden of climate change. The money was made available through the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program. These funds are aimed at helping communities better rebound from presidentially declared disasters, but Salazar says the state will be allowed to allocate the new funds for preventative measures.

Story telling provides a powerful tool in a changing climate. Epen Hobson has been experiencing the land and ocean through the perspective of an Inuit photographer and hunter. A recipient of the Arctic Resilient Communities Fellowship he shares, "We're an oral people, we tell stories, we teach by telling stories," The effects of climate change are concrete and dramatic for the Arctic communities such as Utqiagvik, and Hopson is hungry to see infrastructure and policy solutions to address them.

In 2016 Renato Alberti, who had overseen the structure for 35 years, noticed a vertical crack in one of the outer walls. Alberti, now age 67, filled the gap with repair foam, but the crack reopened after only a few days. Alberti thought something unusual must be happening. Perhaps the mountain was becoming unstable.

Trapped in all that permafrost is an estimated 30 billion tons of carbon. It’s an unfathomable amount, Kirkwood says. With global warming, the permafrost is thawing, threatening to release a “carbon bomb” of heat-trapping methane gas into the atmosphere. But there’s something else lurking in the permafrost that has the potential to be more immediately dangerous to the people and wildlife living in the area: mercury.