Thawing of Frozen Ground
Arctic warming is increasing the length of the summer season causing the active layer of the permafrost to thaw for longer periods of time. This poses economic and social problems for communities of the Arctic because activity in the Arctic is in many cases only possible during the winter season when the top layer is frozen. Roads and buildings may collapse unless adaptive measures are taken. Beyond the societal infrastructure issues, the thawing of the permafrost could mean the release of carbon and methane stored within it - an amount equal to several hundred times the earth's annual carbon dioxide emissions. If the release is fast, global warming would be accelerated rapidly. Therefore, understanding the dynamics of permafrost is critical to understanding climate. Analyses that estimate global carbon reservoirs rarely incorporate the carbon stored in permafrost.
Learn more here:
National Snow and Ice Data Center's section on permafrost and frozen ground
Learn about Permafrost at Natural Resources Canada
Download Arctic Climate Impact Assessment's Key Finding on thawing ground (PDF)
View Dr. David Lawrence's presentation or Dr. Lawrence Smith's presentation on permafrost degradation from American Meteorological Society's Environmental Science Seminar Series.
Articles on Permafrost and Climate Change: Permafrost and the Global Carbon BudgetView NOAA's Arctic Annual Report Card for LandSources: ACIA, 2004; NSIDC website; Schuur, 2008.