When permafrost is perma-lost, the global carbon cycle is altered and coastal ecosystem are affected In a first-of-its-kind study, a team of researchers led by geoscientist Michael Rawlins at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has shown in fine-grained detail what happens when Arctic permafrost thaws. Focusing on a Wisconsin-sized area of Alaska’s North Slope containing hundreds […]
Permafrost thawing may allow greenhouse gases to escape at a much higher rate than previously thought, and this could further accelerate climate change. Experiments by University of Leeds researchers, published in AGU journal Earth’s Future, have shown that thawing of permafrost makes it between 25 and 100 times more permeable, allowing more climate change forcing […]
A natural cooling mechanism has been shielding the world’s mountain glaciers from increasingly warm summer melt seasons, but new research by an international science team says the protective process will break down by mid-century. Glaciers at that time will be fully susceptible to the warming overlying atmosphere, though the timing and extent of that response […]
SITKAGI BLUFFS — While paddling a glacial lake complete with icebergs and milky blue water, I dipped my left hand, then tasted my fingers. Salty. That was a surprise to me, thirsty there on the edge of the colossal disc of Malaspina Glacier. I was traveling with two friends, mostly on foot. We had inflated […]