Alaska’s Permafrost Experiences Significant Warming Over Three Decades

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Climate change is having a profound impact on Alaska, influencing both the environment and the land’s infrastructure. A new study in the journal Frontiers in Climate indicates considerable warming in Alaska’s soils, especially in permafrost zones, over the past three decades. Lead researcher Erin Oliver analyzed data from 43 weather stations from 1997 to 2023, discovering an average temperature rise of approximately 0.6° Celsius per decade.

Oliver pointed out that certain months even exhibited warming rates of three to four degrees per decade. Complications arose from limited soil probe availability and uneven geographic data coverage, as noted by Alaska Climate Specialist Rick Thoman. Both researchers emphasized the critical need for reliable data in understanding Alaska’s rapidly changing climate, especially as thawing permafrost shifts the Arctic tundra from being a carbon sink to a carbon source, aggravating climate issues.