Sentences with phrase «protected by permafrost»

Not exact matches

The permafrost is a vast reservoir of ancient carbon, protected from decay by microorganisms simply by its frozen state: it becomes increasingly vulnerable as the world warms, as humans burn fossil fuels and dump ever greater concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

With the late - summer ice edge located farther north than it used to be, storms produce larger waves and more coastal erosion.5 An additional contributing factor is that coastal bluffs that were «cemented» by ice - rich permafrost are beginning to thaw in response to warmer air and ocean waters, and are therefore more vulnerable to erosion.22 Standard defensive adaptation strategies to protect coastal communities from erosion, such as use of rock walls, sandbags, and riprap, have been largely unsuccessful.23 Several coastal communities are seeking to relocate to escape erosion that threatens infrastructure and services but, because of high costs and policy constraints on use of federal funds for community relocation, only one Alaskan village has begun to relocate (see also Ch.

There is new information that lack of sea ice causes storms to produce larger waves and more coastal erosion.5 An additional contributing factor is that coastal bluffs that were «cemented» by permafrost are beginning to thaw in response to warmer air and ocean waters, and are therefore more vulnerable to erosion.22 Standard defensive adaptation strategies to protect coastal communities from erosion such as use of rock walls, sandbags, and riprap have been largely unsuccessful.23 There remains considerable uncertainty, however, about the spatial patterns of future coastal erosion.