How to study a swiftly melting climate disaster
Researchers are studying the impact of a 2013 wildfire on Alaskan permafrost to understand how climate change accelerates soil thawing. By comparing pre-fire data with current samples, scientists are documenting how the loss of insulating vegetation leads to deeper permafrost degradation.
Why it matters
Permafrost contains massive amounts of stored carbon; its rapid thawing is a critical feedback loop in global climate change.
I helicoptered into the Alaskan wilderness with scientists on the frontlines of permafrost research.
Andrew Haverdink, a tall grad student in a rain bib and rubber boots, wrenched a double-handed drill from the frozen soil that underlies much of Alaska’s Denali National Park and then unclipped the hollow barrel from the end of the bit.
He knelt in front of a blue tarp, lined the barrel up with a plastic tray, and pushed a rod through the opposite end. A perfect solid, cylindrical core of ancient soil emerged—dark, rich permafrost at least a foot long.
On that late morning in early July, Haverdink was among a team of Northern Arizona University students and staff gathering samples and data from a research plot, divided by surveyor’s tape unspooled atop tussocks, alders, and fireweed.
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