Tip Sheets:

SCIENCE WRITERS: For interview requests before or during AGU, contact University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute science communicator Rod Boyce at 907-347-9105 (cell) or rcboyce@alaska.edu .

GI Permafrost Research

PERMAFROST THAWING

Vladimir Romanovsky, professor emeritus specializing in permafrost, will discuss results of almost 40 years of permafrost and active layer temperature observations in Alaska. The findings show that most of the sites in Alaska show substantial warming of permafrost since the 1980s.

FAIRBANKS, ALASKA HAZARDS MAP

Louise Farquharson, research assistant professor specializing in how high-latitude landscapes respond to climate change, will present a new preliminary permafrost hazard map for the Fairbanks North Star Borough in Interior Alaska. Permafrost thaw, ground-ice melt and associated ground settlement pose significant hazards to northern communities and industry.

#AGU23 TIP SHEET: New research about climate change impact on permafrost

SCIENCE WRITERS: For interview requests before or during AGU, contact University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute science communicator Rod Boyce at 907-347-9105 (cell) or rcboyce@alaska.edu .

• PERMAFROST THAWING — Vladimir Romanovsky, professor emeritus specializing in permafrost, will discuss results of almost 40 years of permafrost and active layer temperature observations in Alaska. The findings show that most of the sites in Alaska show substantial warming of permafrost since the 1980s.

• FAIRBANKS, ALASKA HAZARDS MAP — Louise Farquharson, research assistant professor specializing in how high-latitude landscapes respond to climate change, will present a new preliminary permafrost hazard map for the Fairbanks North Star Borough in Interior Alaska. Permafrost thaw, ground-ice melt and associated ground settlement pose significant hazards to northern communities and industry. 

• CHANGES IN GROUND TEMPERATURE — Dmitry Nicolsky, research associate professor focusing on cryosphere processes, will present the first results of projects focused on observing and modeling ground temperature dynamics in the natural and disturbed environments in a few small communities in Northern Alaska.

• CHEMICALS FROM THAWING PERMAFROST — Alexander Kholodov, research assistant professor specializing in periglacial studies and permafrost, will present research about the process of permafrost degradation which, potentially, can lead to release of chemical compounds. The research is part of the National Science Foundation-funded project "Collaborative Research: Indigenous Observation Network 2.0: Impacts of Environmental Change on the Yukon and Kuskokwim Watershed.”

• COASTAL CHANGE —  Louise Farquharson, research assistant professor, will present research about coastal change and ground temperature at the Alaska North Slope communities of Point Lay, Wainwright and Utqiagvik. Permafrost thaw and coastal erosion are expected to cause widespread land loss, infrastructure damage, the rerouting of tundra and snow travel corridors and the destruction of important cultural sites across many Arctic coastal communities within the next century. 

• PERMAFROST TEMPERATURE FORECASTING — Sergei Rybakov, graduate student researcher, will present a new method to improve temperature data taken from permafrost locations. A warmer climate has significantly enhanced degradation of discontinuous permafrost, leading to formation of sub-aerial taliks and development of thermokarst. When considering warm discontinuous permafrost, thaw can propagate both in vertical and lateral directions. High variability of ecotypes, soil, and water content is complicated and leads to misunderstanding and inaccurate results for the temperature forecasting.

• PERMAFROST VULNERABILITY — Sergey Marchenko, research associate professor, will present results of the second year of a project focused on evaluating the vulnerability and behavior of permafrost using different climate scenarios and surface conditions as well as with various non-climate related anthropogenic stressors such as gravel pad of 2 feet, 4 feet and 6 feet in depth. With depth, the magnitude and difference in temperatures between different depths of gravel pad are decreasing but remain quite noticeable between sites with natural surface and covered with gravel.

• PERMAFROST ICE ESTIMATING — Simeon Zwieback, assistant professor, will present quantitative excess ice concentration estimates derived from satellite radar interferometry. This has the potential to provide new information about the susceptibility of permafrost landscapes to terrain instability and on the controls, drivers and consequences of ground ice formation and loss