Arctic Permafrost is Expanding Around Twelvemile Lake, But Not for Long with Climate Change

There's been a lot of worry over melting permafrost in the Arctic that could potentially leak the greenhouse gas, methane, into the atmosphere and accelerate global warming. Now, though, scientists have made a surprising discovery. They've found that there is new permafrost forming around Twelvemile Lake in the interior of Alaska.

Twelvemile Lake is sometimes called the disappearing lake. Over the past 30 years, climate change and thawing permafrost has caused the lake water to recede at an alarming rate. In fact, it's about 15 feet shallowering than it was about three decades ago.

As the lake recedes, bands of willowy shrubs have grown up on the newly exposed lake shore. Interestingly enough, these shrubs have acted to help create permafrost. The extra shade has cooled and dried the surrounding soil, allowing permafrost to expand beneath them.

While this find is exciting, though, it probably won't last. The scientists analyzed the thickness of the new permafrost and then projected how it will be affected by continued climate change and rising temperatures. In the end, they found that the new permafrost won't last beyond the end of the century.

The findings reveal that it's important to take every consideration into account when analyzing a changing climate. Although expanding permafrost may seem like the climate is cooling, that's not the case here. Instead, the permafrost is only temporary as our climate continues to warm.

The findings are published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.