Permafrost Stories: The land needs to stay frozen

Marina Antonova*

By GRID-Arendal

June 29^th, 2018

Sea ice, glaciers, ice sheets and permafrost are vital parts of the Earth’s climate because they act as planetary freezers. Warming polar and mountain environments due to climate change affects distant regions but has a greater impact in the immediate vicinity.

Thawing permafrost is a key concern of global climate scientists since a quarter of the northern hemisphere and all high mountain altitudes have permafrost which cements everything that is on it – landscapes, infrastructure, vegetation, river and sea beds and shores. Permafrost also contains massive amounts of greenhouse gases which, when the ground melts, escape into the atmosphere and contribute to climate change.

Permafrost is defined as a soil, rock or sediment and water that remains frozen under the ground for two years or more. It exists in different thicknesses and extents. In some areas it is more than a kilometre deep and has remained frozen since the last Ice Age.

Recent research has revealed that nearly 13 percent of Alaska’s landscape has changed over the past three decades, mainly due to thawing permafrost and increasing air temperatures. A publication from early 2018 estimated that “the permafrost regions contain twice as much mercury as the rest of all soils, atmosphere and ocean combined.” In another assessment it was also estimated that Arctic permafrost soils hold about 50% of the world’s soil carbon. Potential release of carbon dioxide and methane from thawing terrestrial and subsea permafrost may have a drastic global impact on the climate.

Effects of warming climate on permafrost areas as well as permafrost itself are understudied but they have an impact on both terrestrial and marine processes and ecosystems. For instance, the boreal forest may change into wetland due to thawing permafrost, and loosening soil can cause landslides and rock falls in mountainous areas. Permafrost also preserves diseases mistakenly buried there either by humans (such as anthrax) or which have been naturally frozen there for thousands of yearsalong with the flora and fauna of a previous epoch.

GRID-Arendal is working on a number of projects connected with vulnerable environments and permafrost change in the polar and mountain regions, including

- assessing critical research gaps related to Arctic coastal permafrost;

- taking part in the H2020 project “Nunataryuk” which is investigating the links between permafrost thaw in Arctic coastal areas and the global climate, infrastructure and human health; and

- assessing the threats affecting peatlands and permafrost lands. Peatlands are extensive in permafrost areas and also store large amount of greenhouse gases that are released the ground thaws and drains.

Reindeer herding Dolgans, Khatanga region, Taimyr, Russia, July 1993. Photo by Peter Prokosch

Hundreds of unique cultures developed and thrive on permafrost lands. GRID-Arendal is working with some of them, including Nomadic reindeer herders whose territories include the Arctic, Subarctic, and taiga regions of Mongolia and China. We are also helping to enhance resilience of mountain communities in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region that are affected by climate change.

* Marina Antonova is from Yakutsk, Russia and was an intern at GRID-Arendal. Yakutsk is the largest city on continuous permafrost, as well as the coldest, where many buildings stand on stilts and require steep staircases to enter. Marina has a three-room ice cellar with a main room kept at a cool -14°C.