Permafrost, or deeply frozen ground, covers a quarter of the land in the northern hemisphere and plays a key role in the environmental balance of cold regions. Under the effect of global warming, this once stable soil is experiencing accelerated thaw, threatening ecosystems, human infrastructure and global biogeochemical cycles.
A study published in The Cryosphere by an international team led by Laurent Orgogozo, lecturer at the University of Toulouse (GET-CNRS), highlights the impact of warming on the Kulingdakan basin in central Siberia. Using the high-precision permaFoam simulator on the Joliot-Curie supercomputer, researchers projected a dramatic increase in the active layer of permafrost, which could reach +65% by 2100. These results highlight intense local dynamics and worrying global implications .
Understanding the context: worrying global warming
Siberian permafrost plays a determining role in the regulation of boreal ecosystems. It directly influences biodiversity, water flows and biogeochemical cycles. This deep frozen soil maintains the stability of landscapes. It also serves as a reservoir of organic carbon, trapped for millennia. Boreal forests form one of the largest biomes on Earth. 80% of them are installed on permafrost. However, under the effect of global warming, projections indicate an average increase in ground temperatures.
It could reach 5°C at just 10 cm depth by 2100, according to the most extreme scenarios. pessimists of the IPCC. This warming induces a significant increase in the thickness of the layer…Read the rest on Science et vie
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