Arctic Answers

Because the Arctic is warming much faster than the global average, Arctic nations have a special interest to understand climate responses to hypothetical reductions of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to know whether aggressive mitigation efforts now make good economic sense.

As permafrost thaws in a warming climate, once-frozen organic carbon is broken down by soil microbes, releasing carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere. Release of these additional greenhouse gases to the atmosphere accelerates climate change and incurs additional societal costs for mitigation and adaptation.

O. Ahkinga, Native Village of Diomede | Investigation – Lived Experience & Observations – Validation …

Local and regional sea level rise depends not only on how much water is contained in the ocean, but also on the rise and fall of the land, including underneath the ocean. Understanding vertical land motion is critical for appropriately predicting and responding to sea level change.

A direct and ubiquitous consequence of our warming climate is rising sea level. Increasing rates of warming have accelerated the rate of sea level rise and the frequency of coastal flooding.

The Arctic is experiencing pronounced environmental changes with significant implications for Indigenous peoples who rely heavily on wild game, fish, and other resources.

Loss of sea ice, thawing permafrost, reduced snow cover, and rising sea level are reducing hunting and 7ishing opportunities and degrading infrastructure for rural Arctic communities.

Diminishing sea ice, changing snow patterns, and increasing water temperatures threaten organisms—from algae to mammals—adapted to the sea ice ecosystem.

Changes in Arctic land ice area and volume directly influence sea level rise locally, regionally, and globally. Understanding where land ice is being lost and how quickly it is disappearing is key to projecting the rates of sea level rise around the globe.

Degrading permafrost is making life in Arctic communities more challenging because fishing and hunting, access to drinking water, and travel via trails and rivers (i.e., ecosystem services) are becoming less reliable or predictable.

Degradation of permafrost—perennially frozen ground that often contains subsurface ice—makes it difficult to build and maintain infrastructure including roads, buildings, pipelines, and airports. As ground ice melts, soils shift and collapse making the ground unstable thus jeopardizing infrastructure at the surface.

Improved predictions of Arctic sea ice conditions are important to numerous stakeholders. Understanding opportunities to advance predictive capabilities, as well as inherent limitations, is necessary to develop optimal prediction products across different user communities, regions, and timeframes.

Rising sea level and the expected increases in the frequency and severity of strong storms make coastal areas and their residents among the most vulnerable to natural hazards from a changing climate.

The Bering Sea supports one of the largest, most profitable food fisheries in the world. Commercial fisheries are the largest private-sector employer in Alaska. The extent, duration and timing of sea ice advance and retreat are changing dramatically in the warming Arctic, and this accelerated transformation affects food webs on which commercially important fisheries depend.

The rapid loss of floating Arctic sea ice is striking in its impact on global climate.