Course: Thawing Permafrost: Science, Policy, and Environmental Justice in the Arctic

Despite scientists’ efforts, gaps in Arctic carbon monitoring and modeling of permafrost thaw are limiting our ability to address the climate crisis. These gaps create uncertainties in our estimates of …

In the first video we watched for this course, we described permafrost as a large carbon reservoir. Permafrost stores an estimated 1.4 trillion tonnes of carbon—almost double the amount already …

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has published numerous reports warning that passing 1.5 degrees Celsius of average global warming will have catastrophic repercussions for the planet—a threshold …

3.6 million people currently live in areas at risk of infrastructure damage due to climate hazards caused by permafrost thaw. As warming causes once-frozen permafrost to thaw, the ground can …

The vast, diverse northern permafrost zone spans from the Canadian High Arctic to sub-Arctic Alaska and boreal Canada, to mountains in the lower 48 U.S. States, much of Russia, some …

Depending where you live, the Arctic region may seem distant or isolated. In reality, the Arctic is home to millions of people and is connected to the rest of the …

Now that we know what and where permafrost is, what do those landscapes look like? Natalie Baillargeon and Anneka Williams have both visited field sites in Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, a …

Permafrost is perennially frozen earth composed of substrate, including soil, gravel, sand, and decayed plant and animal material known as organic matter. Permafrost can contain large amounts of ice (up …