Climate Cast: What is permafrost and why does it matter?

MPR News Staff
Permafrost
This photo shows the Noatak National Preserve in Alaska, where the permafrost thawing has caused erosion and ground degradation. Massive amounts of greenhouse gases trapped below thawing permafrost will likely vent into the air over the next several decades, accelerating and amplifying global warming, scientists warn.
Edward Schuur | University of Florida, AP

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Permafrost is a term at the center of many discussions on climate change.

By definition, it is soil that has remained below freezing for two or more years. There is huge variety, however, within that: Some permafrost has been frozen for only two years, some has been frozen for as long as hundreds of thousands of years. Some is hundreds of meters thick, some only a few meters.

For this week's Climate Cast, Antoni Lewkowicz, a Geography Professor at the University of Ottawa and President of the International Permafrost Association, joined MPR News' Kerri Miller to explain permafrost, and discuss why many scientists are concerned about it thawing.

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