permafrost

Arctic ‘Mercury Bomb’ Threatens Food Chain as Climate Warms

Arctic ‘Mercury Bomb’ Threatens Food Chain as Climate Warms

As global heating caused by the climate crisis warms the Arctic as much as four times faster than the worldwide average, Alaska’s Yukon River is eroding thawing permafrost and releasing mercury-laden sediment that has been sequestered for thousands of years into the surrounding environment. The toxic contaminant is putting the food chain and communities that […]

Join our newsletter

The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

    Why Are Large Sinkholes Opening in the Arctic Seabed?

    Why Are Large Sinkholes Opening in the Arctic Seabed?

    Something unusual is happening in the depths of the Arctic ocean: sinkholes are opening up on the seabed, some as large as a city block!  This discovery, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday, was based on high-resolution bathymetric surveys of the Canadian Beaufort Sea. “We know that big changes […]

    Climate Change Is Destabilizing Earth’s Polar Regions

    Climate Change Is Destabilizing Earth’s Polar Regions

    Temperatures have been rising in the Arctic and Antarctic twice as fast as the rest of the globe, and it is changing the dynamics of the region. Beavers, whose damming activity increases the melting of permafrost, have been seen making the Arctic their new home, the ice shelf holding the enormous Thwaites Glacier in place […]

    We Are Failing the Arctic Report Card

    We Are Failing the Arctic Report Card

    The 2021 Arctic Report Card is in, and it’s not looking good. The region continues to warm twice as fast as the rest of the planet, and this is having a direct impact on communities both near and far from Earth’s northernmost ecosystem, according to the annual report from the NOAA-led Arctic Program. “The Arctic […]

    24,000-Year-Old Microorganism Revived From Frozen Siberian Permafrost

    24,000-Year-Old Microorganism Revived From Frozen Siberian Permafrost

    Scientists in Russia have revived a bdelloid rotifer — a type of multicellular microorganism that’s accustomed to wet environments — after the invertebrate spent 24,000 years frozen 11 feet beneath the Siberian permafrost. According to a new study published Monday in Current Biology, past research has suggested these tiny creatures can slow their metabolisms down […]

    Thawing Permafrost Is Full of Ice-Forming Particles That Could Get Into Atmosphere

    Thawing Permafrost Is Full of Ice-Forming Particles That Could Get Into Atmosphere

    By Jessie Creamean and Thomas Hill The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The Big Idea Permafrost – frozen soil in the far north – is thawing, releasing greenhouse gases and long-lost microbes. But one thing that scientists have not studied extensively is whether permafrost contains certain kinds of particles that […]