thawing permafrost
Arctic ground softening
Thawing permafrost is ground that was permanently frozen but is now warming and softening due to rising temperatures.
The process releases trapped methane and carbon dioxide, accelerating climate change.
It also destabilizes infrastructure built on once-solid ground: Roads buckle as thawing permafrost shifts beneath them.
Scientists track thawing permafrost as both symptom and driver of global warming.
- greenhouse gasesEmissions that trap heat
- meltingSolid-to-liquid transition
- melting iceFrozen water turning liquid
- global warmingRising planetary temperatures
- heat transferMovement of thermal energy
habitat loss · carbon dioxide emissions · feedback loops · hydrology · erosion · subsidence · water contamination · Arctic · peatlands · invasive species · coastal erosion
thawing permafrostglaciation
Ice sheet spreading process
global cooling · carbon sequestration · Little Ice Age · cooling trend
thaws, thawed, permafrost, frost, frosts, frosted, frosty, frostier, frostiest