Global warming leaves ever more obvious scars in permafrost areas. As a comparative study shows, in all regions with permafrost in the Arctic and Antarctic, as well as on the high mountain ranges of Europe and Central Asia, its temperature at a depth of more than 10 meters increased by an average of 0.3 degrees Celsius from 2007 to 2016 . The effect is most pronounced in Siberia, where the temperature of the frozen ground has risen by almost 1 degree.

Permafrost temperature is one of the most common climate variables. This gives a direct idea of ​​how frozen land reacts to climate change,.

-Hanne Christiansen, co-author of the study and president of the International Permafrost Association (IPA)

Approximately one sixth of the land on our planet is considered to be permafrost areas, which means that the soil there has not been thawed for at least two consecutive years. However, in most of these regions, frost penetrated the earth thousands of years ago, and in the most severe of them, the permafrost continues to a depth of 1.6 kilometers.

However, as a result of global warming, the integrity of these structures is increasingly endangered. In addition, permafrost contains a huge amount of canned plant and animal substances. If this organic material is thawed, the microorganisms will begin to destroy it, and this process will produce enough carbon dioxide and methane emissions to potentially raise the global average temperature by an additional 0.13-0.27 degrees by 2100.

A comparative study conducted by the GTN-P (Global Cryolithozone Monitoring Network) shows for the first time the extent to which permafrost soils have already warmed around the world. Researchers monitored and analyzed soil temperature in wells in the Arctic, Antarctic, and various highland areas for ten years. Data was collected at a depth of more than 10 meters to eliminate the effect of seasonal fluctuations in temperature.

The full set of data covers 154 wells, 123 of which allow conclusions to be drawn about the whole decade, and the remainder can be used to refine the annual deviation calculations. The results show that from 2007 to 2016:

  • the temperature of permafrost soils increased in 71 out of 123 measurement sites
  • permafrost has already thawed in 5 wells
  • in 12 wells, for example, in some areas in eastern Canada, in southern Eurasia and on the Antarctic Peninsula, the temperature has dropped
  • in 40 wells almost unchanged

The sharpest warming was observed in the Arctic. In regions with more than 90 percent permafrost, soil temperature has risen by an average of 0.3 degrees over ten years.

-Boris Biskaborn, lead author of the study from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (Germany)

In the north-east and north-west of Siberia, the temperature increase in some wells was 0.9 degrees or even higher. For comparison: the air temperature in the respective regions increased by an average of 0.61 degrees over the same period.

Further south, in the arctic regions with permafrost less than 90 percent, the earth warmed by an average of only 0.2 degrees.

In these regions, snowfalls are frequent, and they isolate permafrost: in winter, snow protects the ground from extreme cold, which on average produces a warming effect, but in the spring it reflects sunlight and prevents excessive heating,.

-Boris Biscaborn

Also significant warming is observed in permafrost areas on high mountain ranges and in the Antarctic. The temperature of constantly frozen soils in the Alps, the Himalayas and in the mountain ranges of northern countries increased by an average of 0.19 degrees. In wells in the Antarctic, researchers measured a rise of 0.37 degrees.

All these data tell us that the soil is rapidly warming not locally on a regional scale, but around the world.

-Guido Grosse, co-author of the study from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research

Thawing permafrost is gathering rapid momentum with global warming around the world
Click To Tweet

The post Thawing permafrost is gathering rapid momentum with global warming around the world appeared first on Upcosmos.com.