More needs to be done to better understand rapidly changing Arctic landscapes that are sinking as climate-driven permafrost thaw penetrates deeper, according to new research by University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists and others. International climate monitoring organizations have no uniform standard for measuring ground subsidence, leading to an underestimation of thaw depth and therefore an […]
Woods Hole, Mass. – The overlapping effects of sea level rise, permafrost thaw subsidence, and erosion may lead to land loss in Arctic coastal regions that dwarfs the land loss from any single one of these climate hazards, scientists say. While 75 years of aerial and satellite observations have established coastal erosion as an increasing […]
The release of mercury from permafrost “could take a huge toll on the environment and the health of those living in these areas,” said a co-author of the new study. A study published Thursday in Environmental Research Letters warns that Arctic warming could unleash toxic mercury currently contained in rapidly thawing permafrost, potentially threatening the region’s food supply and […]
The massive 2015 flooding of the Sagavanirktok River in northern Alaska had immediate impacts, including closure of the Dalton Highway for several days, but it also contributed to longer-term ground subsidence in the permafrost-rich region. That’s the finding by assistant professor Simon Zwieback at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute in a study published […]