Once Upon the Permafrost is a longitudinal climate ethnography about "knowing" a specific culture and the ecosystem that culture physically and spiritually depends on in the twenty-first-century context of climate change. Through careful integration of contemporary narratives, on-site observations, and document analysis, Susan Alexandra Crate shows how local understandings of change and the vernacular knowledge systems they are founded on provide critical information for interdisciplinary collaboration and effective policy prescriptions.

This book provides a cross-disciplinary overview of permafrost and the carbon cycle by providing an introduction into the geographical distribution of permafrost, with a focus on the distribution of permafrost and its soil carbon reservoirs. The chapters explain the basic physical properties and processes of permafrost soils: ice, mineral and organic components, and how these interact with climate, vegetation and geomorphological processes. In particular, the book covers the role of the large quantities of ice in many permafrost soils which are crucial to understanding carbon cycle processes. An explanation is given on how permafrost becomes loaded with ice and carbon. Gas hydrates are also introduced. Structures and processes formed by the intense freeze-thaw action in the active layer are considered (e.g. ice wedging, cryoturbation), and the processes that occur as the permafrost thaws, (pond and lake formation, erosion). The book introduces soil carbon accumulation and decomposition mechanisms and how these are modified in a permafrost environment. A separate chapter deals with deep permafrost carbon, gas reservoirs and recently discovered methane emission phenomena from regions such as Northwest Siberia and the Siberian yedoma permafrost.

This book provides a general survey of Geocryology, which is the study of frozen ground called permafrost. Frozen ground is the product of cold climates as well as a variety of environmental factors. Its major characteristic is the accumulation of large quantities of ice which may exceed 90% by volume. Soil water changing to ice results in ground heaving, while thawing of this ice produces ground subsidence often accompanied by soil flowage. Permafrost is very susceptible to changes in weather and climate as well as to changes in the microenvironment. Cold weather produces contraction of the ground, resulting in cracking of the soil as well as breakup of concrete, rock, etc. Thus permafrost regions have unique landforms and processes not found in warmer lands. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 provides an introduction to the characteristics of permafrost. Four chapters deal with its definition and characteristics, the unique processes operating there, the factors affecting it, and its general distribution. Part 2 consists of seven chapters describing the characteristic landforms unique to these areas and the processes involved in their formation. Part 3 discusses the special problems encountered by engineers in construction projects including settlements, roads and railways, the oil and gas industry, mining, and the agricultural and forest industries. The three authors represent three countries and three language groups, and together have over 120 years of experience of working in permafrost areas throughout the world. The book contains over 300 illustrations and photographs, and includes an extensive bibliography in order to introduce the interested reader to the large current literature. Finalist of the 2019 PROSE Awards.

By tracing the English word permafrost back to its Russian roots, this unique intellectual history uncovers the multiple, contested meanings of permafrost as a scientific idea and environmental phenomenon.

Snow and Ice-Related Hazards, Risks, and Disasters provides you with the latest scientific developments in glacier surges and melting, ice shelf collapses, paleo-climate reconstruction, sea level rise, climate change implications, causality, impacts, preparedness, and mitigation. It takes a geo-scientific approach to the topic while also covering current thinking about directly related social scientific issues that can adversely affect ecosystems and global economies. Puts the contributions from expert oceanographers, geologists, geophysicists, environmental scientists, and climatologists selected by a world-renowned editorial board in your hands Presents the latest research on causality, glacial surges, ice-shelf collapses, sea level rise, climate change implications, and more Numerous tables, maps, diagrams, illustrations and photographs of hazardous processes will be included Features new insights into the implications of climate change on increased melting, collapsing, flooding, methane emissions, and sea level rise

This is the first truly ecosystem-oriented book on peatlands. It adopts an ecosystems approach to understanding the world's boreal peatlands. The focus is on biogeochemical patterns and processes, production, decomposition, and peat accumulation, and it provides additional information on animal and fungal diversity. A recurring theme is the legacy of boreal peatlands as impressive accumulators of carbon as peat over millennia.

This book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date assessment of the key terrestrial components of the Arctic system, i.e., its hydrology, permafrost, and ecology, drawing on the latest research results from across the circumpolar regions. The Arctic is an integrated system, the elements of which are closely linked by the atmosphere, ocean, and land. Using an integrated system approach, the book’s 30 chapters, written by a diverse team of leading scholars, carefully examine Arctic climate variability/change, large river hydrology, lakes and wetlands, snow cover and ice processes, permafrost characteristics, vegetation/landscape changes, and the future trajectory of Arctic system evolution. The discussions cover the fundamental features of and processes in the Arctic system, with a special focus on critical knowledge gaps, i.e., the interactions and feedbacks between water, permafrost, and ecosystem, such as snow pack and permafrost changes and their impacts on basin hydrology and ecology, river flow, geochemistry, and energy fluxes to the Arctic Ocean, and the structure and function of the Arctic ecosystem in response to past/future changes in climate, hydrology, and permafrost conditions. Given its scope, the book offers a valuable resource for researchers, graduate students, environmentalists, managers, and administrators who are concerned with the northern environment and resources.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in collaboration with the InterAcademy Partnership and the European Academies Science Advisory Committee held a workshop in November 2019 to bring together researchers and public health officials from different countries and across several relevant disciplines to explore what is known, and what critical knowledge gaps remain, regarding existing and possible future risks of harmful infectious agents emerging from thawing permafrost and melting ice in the Arctic region. The workshop examined case studies such as the specific case of Arctic region anthrax outbreaks, as a known, observed risk as well as other types of human and animal microbial health risks that have been discovered in snow, ice, or permafrost environments, or that could conceivably exist. The workshop primarily addressed two sources of emerging infectious diseases in the arctic: (1) new diseases likely to emerge in the Arctic as a result of climate change (such as vector-borne diseases) and (2) ancient and endemic diseases likely to emerge in the Arctic specifically as a result of permafrost thaw. Participants also considered key research that could advance knowledge including critical tools for improving observations, and surveillance to advance understanding of these risks, and to facilitate and implement effective early warning systems. Lessons learned from efforts to address emerging or re-emerging microbial threats elsewhere in the world were also discussed. This publication summarizes the presentation and discussion of the workshop.

Microbiome Under Changing Climate: Implications and Solutions presents the latest biotechnological interventions for the judicious use of microbes to ensure optimal agricultural yield. Summarizing aspects of vulnerability, adaptation and amelioration of climate impact, this book provides an important resource for understanding microbes, plants and soil in pursuit of sustainable agriculture and improved food security. It emphasizes the interaction between climate and soil microbes and their potential role in promoting advanced sustainable agricultural solutions, focusing on current research designed to use beneficial microbes such as plant growth promoting microorganisms, fungi, endophytic microbes, and more. Changes in climatic conditions influence all factors of the agricultural ecosystem, including adversely impacting yield both in terms of quantity and nutritional quality. In order to develop resilience against climatic changes, it is increasingly important to understand the effect on the native micro-flora, including the distribution of methanogens and methanotrophs, nutrient content and microbial biomass, among others. - Demonstrates the impact of climate change on secondary metabolites of plants and potential responses - Incorporates insights on microflora of inhabitant soil - Explores mitigation processes and their modulation by sustainable methods - Highlights the role of microbial technologies in agricultural sustainability

Drawing from a decade-long collaboration between Japan and Russia, this important volume presents the first major synthesis of current knowledge on the ecophysiology of the coniferous forests growing on permafrost at high latitudes. It presents ecological data for a region long inaccessible to most scientists, and raises important questions about the global carbon balance as these systems are affected by the changing climate. Making up around 20% of the entire boreal forests of the northern hemisphere, these ‘permafrost forest ecosystems’ are subject to particular constraints in terms of temperature, nutrient availability, and root space, creating exceptional ecosystem characteristics not known elsewhere. This authoritative text explores their diversity, structure, dynamics and physiology. It provides a comparison of these forests in relation to boreal forests elsewhere, and concludes with an assessment of the potential responses of this unique biome to climate change. The book will be invaluable to advanced students and researchers interested in boreal vegetation, forest ecology, silviculture and forest soils, as well as to researchers into climate change and the global carbon balance.