Thawing permafrost driven by a hidden world of changes beneath the surface as the climate warms
An illustration shows some of the ways permafrost affects the Arctic landscape. Credit: Victor O. Leshyk, from Schuur et al. 2022. Permafrost and Climate Change: Carbon Cycle Feedbacks from the Warming Arctic.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate impact and adaptation
As the impact of climate change becomes more pronounced, more governments and companies are adopting adaptation strategies.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate science
What began as a theory in the 1890s — that industrial emissions of carbon dioxide could increase global temperatures — had progressed to a scientific fact a century later. Scientists across a range of disciplines are studying the impact of the still-growing concentration of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere as they call for industrial and governmental policies to slow, then halt, the warming of the planet.