Melting of ice in permafrost ground leads to processes of change in the landscape – thermokarst. This may cause faster thawing of the permafrost.
Some of the coldest permafrost on Earth might be more vulnerable to thawing than previously thought. In the PERMANOR project led by the University of Oslo, an international research team has investigated so-called thermokarst processes which can significantly accelerate thawing of permafrost. The study is recently published in Nature Communications.
Air temperatures are increasing in high latitudes and in high mountain areas dominated by permafrost in the ground. When this permafrost thaws, large amounts of greenhouse gases can be released to the atmosphere, which can potentially intensify global warming.
Another consequence is that ice layers in the ground start to melt, so that the ground subsides and depressions with ponds and lakes form. This landscape change, which is known as „thermokarst“, can once again accelerate permafrost thawing in a positive feedback to global warming.
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