Permafrost is a layer of ground that remains frozen all year round. It often sits beneath a layer of soil that thaws seasonally. Due to rising temperatures, some areas of permafrost are thawing for the first time in years, which releases gases and organic carbon that have profound effects on the surrounding ecosystem. Thawing permafrost can also lead to landslides and erosion that pose danger ...
Abrupt melting of the permafrost layer is leading to erosion, landslides and craters in the Arctic landscape. As the permafrost melts, greenhouse gases are released into the environment. Current climate change forecasts may underestimate the emissions from permafrost because they only take into account gradual thawing of the ice layer.
Global warming is melting the permafrost layer, creating big holes in ...
“Permafrost warming has the potential to amplify global climate change,” scientist Dr Boris K Biskaborn of the Alfred Wegener Institute, a polar and marine research organization, writes in an article published in the journal Nature.
Melting Russian permafrost could speed up global warming and have a ...
Explore how NASA data supports monitoring of post-seismic landslides in China, detection of permafrost in the Andes, and mineral mapping in East Africa using MODIS and ASTER data.
The melting permafrost led to what environmentalists say is the worst oil spill of its kind in the Russian Arctic. In May, diesel oil started to leak from a storage tank near Norilsk because melting permafrost weakened its supports. Thousands of tonnes of oil have contaminated the nearby Ambarnaya river and surrounding subsoil, and have put other parts of the region at risk.