Arctic permafrost landscapes in transition: towards an integrated Earth system approach

Abstract

Permafrost science and engineering are of vital importance for northern development and climate adaptation given that buildings, roads, and other infrastructure in many parts of the Arctic depend on permafrost stability. Permafrost also has wide-ranging effects on other features of the Arctic environment including geomorphology, biogeochemical fluxes, tundra plant and animal ecology, and the functioning of lake, river, and coastal marine ecosystems. This review presents an Earth system perspective on permafrost landscapes as an approach towards integration across disciplines. The permafrost system can be described by a three-layer conceptual model, with an upper buffer layer that contains vegetation or infrastructure. Snow and liquid water strongly affect the thermal properties and stability of these layers and their associated interfaces, resulting in critical times and places for accelerated degradation of permafrost and for exchanges of mass and heat with the hydrosphere and atmosphere. Northern permafrost landscapes are now in rapid transition as a result of climate warming and socioeconomic development, which is affecting their ability to provide geosystem and ecosystem services. The Earth system approach provides a framework for identifying linkages, thresholds, and feedbacks among system components, including human systems, and for the development of management strategies to cope with permafrost change.