Alaska's permafrost is thawing

[Billy_Bob]

Dunno, how old do you think this house was?

Caprtion should read: Idiot fails to properly stabilize home due to sea wash of land from under it. Film at eleven..

This photo has NOTHING to do with permafrost melt but everything to do with stupidity and human error.

 

[Billy_Bob]

All across Alaska, the permafrost is thawing and the land surface is subsiding.

Delta4 was correct in his first post when he noted your problem with reading.

Ummmm, no he wasn't. But your lack of English comprehension is duly noted. Relevant part in BOLD....

From delta's link...

“A degree or two warming of climate makes a big difference in our world,” he said, adding that computer modeling shows more warming in the future.

I hate it when they play with broken models.... they get all wee wee'd up...

Those words MAY and MIGHT are dead giveaways that they dont have a clue what they are talking about.

 

[norwegen]

Well, who thought of calling it permafrost?

What an idiot.

 

[jc456]

Dunno, how old do you think this house was?

Caprtion should read: Idiot fails to properly stabilize home due to sea wash of land from under it. Film at eleven..

This photo has NOTHING to do with permafrost melt but everything to do with stupidity and human error.

I know right?

 

[Old Rocks]

Alaska sinks as climate change thaws permafrost

USA TODAY traveled to the Fairbanks area, where workers were busy insulating thaw-damaged roads this summer amid a record number of 80-degree (or hotter) days, as the eighth stop in a year-long series to explore how climate change is changing lives.

The pace of permafrost thawing is "accelerating," says Vladimir Romanovsky, who runs the University of Alaska's Permafrost Laboratory in Fairbanks. He expects widespread degradation will start in a decade or two. By mid-century, his models suggest, permafrost could thaw in at least a third of Alaska and by 2100, in two-thirds of the state.

"This rapid thawing is unprecedented" and is largely due to fossil-fuel emissions, says Kevin Schaefer of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. He says it's already emitting its own heat-trapping carbon dioxide and methane, but the amount will skyrocket in the next 20 to 30 years. "Once the emissions start, they can't be turned off."

Telltale signs are common — from huge potholes in parking lots to collapsed hill slopes and leaning trees in what are called "drunken forests" in Denali National Park, home of the majestic Mount McKinley — North America's tallest peak.

"You can see and hear the ice melting," says Ted Schuur, a permafrost expert at theUniversity of Florida who's doing field studies in central Alaska. He says permafrost contains soil and plant matter as well as chunks of ice as big as cars. When the ice melts, the ground sinks. He's seen it with his own cabin near Fairbanks, which was listing until he leveled one side with adjustable foundation piers.

This is not models as you damned well know, Westwall. The melting permafrost is creating trouble for Alaskan infrastructure right now.

 

[Old Rocks]

Permafrost—permanently frozen soil—underlies much of Nome, Alaska. However, this layer has been thawing as the climate warms, damaging ecosystems and local infrastructure, as seen in this photo. 1

The city of Nome, on Alaska's Seward Peninsula, is mostly underlain by permafrost (permanently frozen ground). The region is home to many thaw ponds—composed of water from melting permafrost. Rising temperatures linked to global warming are shrinking these ponds, which may be releasing heat-trapping gases stored underneath.

• Alaska is warming at around twice the rate of the rest of the United States. The average annual air temperature has risen 6.1° F (3.4° C) in the past 50 years, while winters have warmed by 11.3° F (6.3° C).2,3 The Nome area saw a warming trend from 1907 to 1941, and again from 1976 through early this century.4
• Permafrost temperatures in the state have increased since the late 1970s, and in regions where permafrost tends to be thinner—such as on the Seward Peninsula—it is more susceptible to thawing.2,3,4,5,6,7,8
• Permafrost degradation is projected to increase the cost of maintaining public infrastructure in Alaska by 10-20 percent (U.S. $4 billion to $6 billion) by 2030, and another 10-12 percent ($5.6 billion to $7.6 billion) by 2080.9

Melting Permafrost near Nome, Alaska | Global Warming Effects

More information on the damage that the melting permafrost is causing, and will cause.

 

[Old Rocks]

Alaska’s on Fire and It May Make Climate Change Even Worse

THIS WEEKEND, SMOKE smothered the high-rises of downtown Vancouver. Sunsets as far south as Ohio took on brilliant hues of red and orange. And humanity reached another potential milestone in climate change—all thanks to hundreds of wildfires burning in Alaska and Canada.

The problem isn’t just scorched landscape—though that’s bad enough, to the tune of 3 million acres and 600 fires in Alaska and over 4,000 wildfires in Canada. This year has been exceptionally hot and dry—just ask a Californian—but even so this year’s blazes haven’t yet surpassed the toll of the even fierier 2004. As Sam Harrel, spokesperson for the Alaska Fire Service, puts it in understated terms, “We are on a track for a lot of acres this year.” But the real problem is that the fires could accelerate the melting of permafrost, a layer of ground that’s never supposed to get above freezing. And permafrost is one of Earth’s great storehouses of carbon. Release it, and you speed up climate change.

What ties all that together is “duff,” the thick layer of moss, twigs, needles, and other living or once-living material that blankets the forest floor. Duff can be up to a foot thick, and it provides the insulation that keeps permafrost cold through even the sunny days of summer. But when fire comes along, duff becomes fuel. Burning duff releases carbon too, of course, but losing it is like ripping the insulation out of a refrigerator.

Not models, reality this summer. And for many summers to come.

 

[Billy_Bob]

Permafrost—permanently frozen soil—underlies much of Nome, Alaska. However, this layer has been thawing as the climate warms, damaging ecosystems and local infrastructure, as seen in this photo. 1

The city of Nome, on Alaska's Seward Peninsula, is mostly underlain by permafrost (permanently frozen ground). The region is home to many thaw ponds—composed of water from melting permafrost. Rising temperatures linked to global warming are shrinking these ponds, which may be releasing heat-trapping gases stored underneath.

• Alaska is warming at around twice the rate of the rest of the United States. The average annual air temperature has risen 6.1° F (3.4° C) in the past 50 years, while winters have warmed by 11.3° F (6.3° C).2,3 The Nome area saw a warming trend from 1907 to 1941, and again from 1976 through early this century.4
• Permafrost temperatures in the state have increased since the late 1970s, and in regions where permafrost tends to be thinner—such as on the Seward Peninsula—it is more susceptible to thawing.2,3,4,5,6,7,8
• Permafrost degradation is projected to increase the cost of maintaining public infrastructure in Alaska by 10-20 percent (U.S. $4 billion to $6 billion) by 2030, and another 10-12 percent ($5.6 billion to $7.6 billion) by 2080.9

Melting Permafrost near Nome, Alaska | Global Warming Effects

More information on the damage that the melting permafrost is causing, and will cause.

IS it just me or are the morons out in force?

You do realize that these areas have all been thawed and refrozen millions of times as the earths cyclical warm and cool cycles....... Cycle...

HELLOOOOO morons...this is NATURAL and has happened millions of times.. Even the Glacier that dumb ass Obama did his speal from was exposing trees from the 1930's and other warm cycles like the MEWP...

 

[Old Rocks]

Climate and Frozen Ground | National Snow and Ice Data Center

The story of Shishmaref, Alaska, shows how climate can affect frozen ground. Five hundred people live in Shishmaref, a small town on the Seward Peninsula of Alaska, near the Bering Strait. The Inupiaq people have lived in the area for thousands of years. But Shishmaref is falling into the sea. The townspeople may have to leave their village forever.

Shishmaref is built on permafrost along the coast of the Bering Sea. In the past, summers were short and cool. Winters were very cold, and the ground stayed frozen. Sea ice protected the shore from waves even in the summer. But the climate has warmed. The summer sea ice that protected the coast has melted away, and the permafrost has thawed. Now waves batter the shoreline in summer, washing away the coastline. Every year, about seven meters (twenty-three feet) of Shishmaref washes into the sea (Figure 1).

The people of Shishmaref have moved their buildings away from the shore, and have put rocks and sandbags down to protect the coast. But the waves are still washing the land away. Villagers plan to move the town to a new site.

Like many other places in the Arctic, they are seeing changes in areas that have been stable for hundreds of years.

 

[Old Rocks]

Permafrost—permanently frozen soil—underlies much of Nome, Alaska. However, this layer has been thawing as the climate warms, damaging ecosystems and local infrastructure, as seen in this photo. 1

The city of Nome, on Alaska's Seward Peninsula, is mostly underlain by permafrost (permanently frozen ground). The region is home to many thaw ponds—composed of water from melting permafrost. Rising temperatures linked to global warming are shrinking these ponds, which may be releasing heat-trapping gases stored underneath.

• Alaska is warming at around twice the rate of the rest of the United States. The average annual air temperature has risen 6.1° F (3.4° C) in the past 50 years, while winters have warmed by 11.3° F (6.3° C).2,3 The Nome area saw a warming trend from 1907 to 1941, and again from 1976 through early this century.4
• Permafrost temperatures in the state have increased since the late 1970s, and in regions where permafrost tends to be thinner—such as on the Seward Peninsula—it is more susceptible to thawing.2,3,4,5,6,7,8
• Permafrost degradation is projected to increase the cost of maintaining public infrastructure in Alaska by 10-20 percent (U.S. $4 billion to $6 billion) by 2030, and another 10-12 percent ($5.6 billion to $7.6 billion) by 2080.9

Melting Permafrost near Nome, Alaska | Global Warming Effects

More information on the damage that the melting permafrost is causing, and will cause.

IS it just me or are the morons out in force?

You do realize that these areas have all been thawed and refrozen millions of times as the earths cyclical warm and cool cycles....... Cycle...

HELLOOOOO morons...this is NATURAL and has happened millions of times.. Even the Glacier that dumb ass Obama did his speal from was exposing trees from the 1930's and other warm cycles like the MEWP...

Now Billy Bob, we all know how damned smart you are, just look at how well you have predicted the present El Nino. I think that is an adequate demonstration of what your opinions are worth.

 

[Old Rocks]

Gotta love it when liars like Westwall, Billy Bob, and jc come on here are flap their yaps. All one has to do is put permafrost and Alaska on google to see what the people up there are dealing with.

 

[IsaacNewton]

Since everything in Alaska is built on top of the permafrost ground, this is Bad.

Thawing permafrost threatens Alaska's ecosystem, UAF researcher says

"FAIRBANKS -- Climate change stands to trigger a regime change in Alaska with far-reaching consequences as frozen ground thaws beneath us, a prominent University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist told the Tanana Chiefs Conference on Tuesday.

“Permafrost is the most important part of the ecosystem for engineering in Alaska,” said hydrologist Larry Hinzman. “When you thaw the permafrost everything falls apart.”

Hinzman, the director of the International Arctic Research Center, said Alaska is well on its way to switching from a frozen to a thawed state -- not a seasonal swing, but something more permanent.

Related:
Alarm over Kara Sea permafrost thawing

The permafrost in much of Interior Alaska is already just a degree or two below the freezing point, he said, with warming expected to continue in the decades ahead.

“A degree or two warming of climate makes a big difference in our world,” he said, adding that computer modeling shows more warming in the future.

"This amount of warming can take Alaska from being frozen to being thawed,” he said, with glaciers turned into water and permafrost into thawed ground.

All across Alaska, the permafrost is thawing and the land surface is subsiding. He said conditions are similar in northern Canada and Siberia. The permafrost helps control the hydrology, which in turn helps control the vegetation, which in turn helps control the animals that live on it."

rest at link

As bad as a threat to the infrastructure is, the threat of melting clathrates, or frozen methane deposits, is far worse. Methane converts to O2 and CO2 in the atmosphere, and melting permafrost all over the world is going to trigger Runaway Global Warming, where it won't matter if we stop ALL burning of fossil fuels over night, Global Warming will increase on a feedback loop and the oceans will rise 300 feet or more.

Its likely already too late as we passed the 400 ppm of CO2 a year ago and 350 ppm was thought to be the max at which catastrophe could be avoided.

Ignore the bugwits that deny Global Warming, every human being on Earth is going to get a detailed horrific education on it in the next few years.

 

[Old Rocks]

On the decadal scale, CH4 is over 100 times as effective of a GHG as CO2. That means that we are effectively at the equivalent of over 500 ppm of CO2 right now. And we really don't know what kinds of effects we are unleashing. Kind of like driving on a fog shrouded road at high speed, knowing that the road end in a cliff, but not how far down the road that cliff is. Well, we are going to find out, thanks to idiots like many posting here.

 

[IsaacNewton]

On the decadal scale, CH4 is over 100 times as effective of a GHG as CO2. That means that we are effectively at the equivalent of over 500 ppm of CO2 right now. And we really don't know what kinds of effects we are unleashing. Kind of like driving on a fog shrouded road at high speed, knowing that the road end in a cliff, but not how far down the road that cliff is. Well, we are going to find out, thanks to idiots like many posting here.

The Global Warming deniers need to be ignored here. They need to be challenged and proven wrong on the national stage. And yes we are headed for the cliff while most people think it a sunny day out.

As I said, the entire human race is going to get a brutal education on Global Warming in the next few years. Life on Earth is about to change for hundreds, if not thousands of years. The 6th major mass extinction has already begun.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

So I guess we can call it temp frost from here on out?

 

[Billy_Bob]

Gotta love it when liars like Westwall, Billy Bob, and jc come on here are flap their yaps. All one has to do is put permafrost and Alaska on google to see what the people up there are dealing with.

The overestimation of things that MIGHT happen.... Such foolish crap and lies from you guys..

Its always a hoot to see you gloom and doom idiots put up more and more shit that has no basis in reality.

 

[flacaltenn]

Permafrost

Permafrost

Is Alaska Melting?
Studies of permafrost in Alaska are providing valuable information about the potential effects of global warming. One project at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute has been monitoring temperatures and depth of permafrost since 1976. Precise temperature measurements have been made in a series of holes bored 200 feet deep along a line running north to south down the middle of the state along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.

Study results show that much of the undisturbed discontinuous permafrost south of the Yukon River has warmed significantly and some of it is thawing. That raises the possibility that roads, buildings, and other structures on thawed areas will collapse. Another problem could arise as well: As permafrost thaws it can release methane and carbon dioxide, gases that contribute to the green house effect and accelerate global warming.

What Alaskans are saying.

C'mon man.. Use those noodles.

That raises the possibility that roads, buildings, and other structures on thawed areas will collapse.

RAISES THE POSSIBILITY?? Don't you think that's an understatement from a GW fanatic? It GUARANTEES the inevitable thaw of the ground under it..

No cooling path to the sky -- No winter refreezing. House, Road, Pipeline, --- doesn't matter. That doesn't even take into account the self-heating and radiative nature of the structure itself. Good Lord.

Tell me about melting permafrost in UNDEVELOPED areas. Don't whine about some soil engineers and hydrologists that are just blaming their very bad judgement on Global Warming. I'd LOVE to hear that court case when some Multi-$$megabuck strip mall sinks into the muck in a decade or so.. And the jury is told the cause was man-made CO2 emissions.

 

[Crick]

All across Alaska, the permafrost is thawing and the land surface is subsiding.

Delta4 was correct in his first post when he noted your problem with reading.

Ummmm, no he wasn't. But your lack of English comprehension is duly noted. Relevant part in BOLD....

From delta's link...

“A degree or two warming of climate makes a big difference in our world,” he said, adding that computer modeling shows more warming in the future.

I guess this is sort of a Dunning-Kreuger effect just for English comprehension.

The phrase "the permafrost IS thawing and the land surface IS subsiding" (as well as the numerous photographs presented displaying those processes IN ACTION) does not describe the predictive output of models. Did you fail to get enough nap time back in the third grade?

 

[CrusaderFrank]

There are a number of reasons why the "Permafrost" is thawing including soot, but the AGWCult wants to give their God all the credit

 

[Old Rocks]

Permafrost

Permafrost

Is Alaska Melting?
Studies of permafrost in Alaska are providing valuable information about the potential effects of global warming. One project at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute has been monitoring temperatures and depth of permafrost since 1976. Precise temperature measurements have been made in a series of holes bored 200 feet deep along a line running north to south down the middle of the state along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.

Study results show that much of the undisturbed discontinuous permafrost south of the Yukon River has warmed significantly and some of it is thawing. That raises the possibility that roads, buildings, and other structures on thawed areas will collapse. Another problem could arise as well: As permafrost thaws it can release methane and carbon dioxide, gases that contribute to the green house effect and accelerate global warming.

What Alaskans are saying.

C'mon man.. Use those noodles.

That raises the possibility that roads, buildings, and other structures on thawed areas will collapse.

RAISES THE POSSIBILITY?? Don't you think that's an understatement from a GW fanatic? It GUARANTEES the inevitable thaw of the ground under it..

No cooling path to the sky -- No winter refreezing. House, Road, Pipeline, --- doesn't matter. That doesn't even take into account the self-heating and radiative nature of the structure itself. Good Lord.

Tell me about melting permafrost in UNDEVELOPED areas. Don't whine about some soil engineers and hydrologists that are just blaming their very bad judgement on Global Warming. I'd LOVE to hear that court case when some Multi-$$megabuck strip mall sinks into the muck in a decade or so.. And the jury is told the cause was man-made CO2 emissions.

Fallen trees after the permafrost melted in Fairbanks, Alaska, in 2004.


PHOTOGRAPH BY ASHLEY COOPER, CORBIS

Drunken trees are becoming most prevalent in lowland arboreal forests across Alaska, Canada, and northern Eurasia, says Jorgenson. On steeper slopes, meltwater usually runs downhill quickly, which causes less disturbance on the surface. Birch and black spruce—with their shallow root systems—are the species most likely to lean.


Some climate models have predicted that most permafrost could melt by the end of the century. Jorgenson thinks it will take longer, since soil layers above the frozen ground are good insulators. But the area north of Fairbanks is predicted to warm by four to six degrees Celsius by the end of the century.


"In the last hundred years we've increased about 1.5 degrees Celsius, so that's going to be a huge sledgehammer coming down," says Jorgenson.


In that case, there are likely to be more drunken trees. Right now, around 7 to 8 percent of the land in the middle boreal zone in Alaska is showing some signs of drunken trees or other melting-related impacts, says Jorgenson.

Drunken Trees: Dramatic Signs of Climate Change

But you knew about this already, Flacaltenn. Dishonest of you to make the statement you have knowing this.