Modeling permafrost degradation to estimate [619079]
Modeling permafrost degradation to estimate
the irreversibility of runaway climate change
Alexander Price
Abstract:
The goal of my research was to develop a model that foresees the change in the warming
climate using permafrost thaw and transportation emissions. This is important because it can help
the field of climate change to a great extent by giving projections. These projections include
amounts of carbon emissions, and how this could change the increase in temperature. Based on
broad studies, and models, there will be a general increase in the amount of permafrost
degradation. With the current trend, I expect to see an exponential increase in the degradation,
and therefore, the carbon emissions. This will vary as new studies come about with new
information. The information my model contains could be a great help for researchers in this
field. The unique timeline with unique data can be key in the fight against climate change. It
does this by showing how much the emissions are increasing, and what that is doing to the global
climate. I have studied past models and information that has to do with wetland sources of
carbon, as well as transportation trends. To start, I created a conceptual model of a basic
permafrost process. Then I created one regarding permafrost degradation. Finally, with help from
my mentor, Dr. Quinton of Wilfrid Laurier University, I created a predictive model in Excel. It
used data from a Permafrost data bank my mentor gave me access to, and a data bank on U.S.
transportation emissions I received access to. I then needed to manipulate the timeline prediction
so it would equate to a global scale. With that number and knowledge of global carbon limits, I
was able to draw a global habitability timeline from this model.
Introduction:
Climate change is becoming a well known problem across the world. However few
people associate this problem with the thawing of the permafrost. Permafrost is a thick layer of
soil below the active layer, that stays frozen throughout the year, for at least two years. Within
the permafrost, is carbon stored as
methane(CH4), and carbon dioxide
(CO2). There is about 850 gigatons
of carbon in the Earth’s
atmosphere. A gigaton is equal to
the weight of about 100,000 school
buses, or one billion tons. Currently
stored in the permafrost is about
1400-1700 gigatons of carbon.
Some scientists predict that by the year 2200, the permafrost could add about 190 billion tons of
carbon to the atmosphere. This would impact the temperature which I will get into in my results
section. This is an extremely relevant problem and has only obtained a large amount of press in
the last couple of years. A possible reason for this is that it takes place near the northern and
southern poles. Even though this is the case, it is still affecting the whole world.
Permafrost is found on land and below the ocean floor. To reiterate, it is found in areas
where temperatures rarely rise above freezing. This means permafrost is often found near the
poles. This would be in Arctic regions such as Greenland, the U.S. state of Alaska, Russia,
China, and Eastern Europe.
Permafrost consists of soil, gravel, and sand,
usually bound together by ice. The thickness can
range from 1 meter to more than 1,000
meters(3,281 feet). Frozen ground is not always the
same as permafrost. A layer of soil that freezes for
more than 15 days per year is called seasonally
frozen ground. A layer of soil that freezes between
one and 15 days a year is called intermittently
frozen ground. Again, permafrost is frozen for two
years or more. Although all permafrost is frozen for
this amount of time, it does not always form in one
solid sheet. There are two major ways to describe the
distribution: continuous and discontinuous.
Continuous permafrost is a continuous sheet of
frozen material. It extends under all surfaces except
large bodies of water in the area. The part of Russia
known as Siberia has continuous permafrost.
Discontinuous permafrost is broken up into separate
areas. Some permafrost, in the shadow of a mountain
or thick vegetation, stays all year. In other areas of
discontinuous permafrost, the summer sun melts the
permafrost for several weeks or months. The land near the southern shore of the Hudson Bay in
Canada has discontinuous permafrost.
The thawing of permafrost will have two detrimental impacts in the future. Like stated
previously, as permafrost thaws, carbon is released into the atmosphere in the form of CH4 and
CO2. This process leads to more climate change and is an example of a vicious cycle. A vicious
cycle is a sequence where two or more elements intensify and aggravate each other, leading to a
worsening of the situation. In this case, the rise in temperature is leading to more permafrost
thaw, and the permafrost thaw is leading to an increase in carbon emissions, which is leading to
an increase in temperature.
The other way the thawing permafrost could be
deadly is when permafrost melts, the land above
sinks and changes shape. Sinking land can
damage buildings and infrastructure such as
roads, airports, and water and sewer pipes. It
also affects ecosystems. For example, in this
photo a forest where the trees are leaning or
falling over because the permafrost underneath
them has melted.
Methodology:
In the beginning of this process, it was completely necessary to obtain profound
information on my topics. This would be in the general fields of transportation emissions. During
the process of gaining knowledge, I made many conceptual models of various processes related
to both fields. I then, with help from my mentor, created a sheet in excel with the components
that make up permafrost, as well as graphs that contain processes and the components of
permafrost. Next, after many calculations, I created a table that calculates the amount of CO2
emissions from the permafrost and transportation emissions data. These calculations were
primarily to convert the data from a small scale to a global scale. The purpose of this was to
figure out the emissions line for the habitability timeline part of my model. I used excel and
google sheets to compile all of my data.
Results:
Here is one of the conceptual models I created. It is of permafrost make up. The key info is the
bottom left where it states what makes up permafrost. Creating this was key in understanding
how this system of permafrost and how it thaws really works.
Data Table. Here I manipulated Stefan’s Equation and used the steric dimensionless constant as
my x value, or changing variable. Black, given values, blue, predicted. This was not relevant for
the research I did however it helped with understanding the modelling aspects.
Thaw depth using strictly permafrost thaw data and regression to create this. Uses data from 1st
two columns.
Using year and stefan's manipulated equation to use this. Same basic principle as last one but
with 1st and 3rd column. Bottom left is ice loss while refreezing. Very Basic.
This sheet combines thaw depth data with transportation emissions data. This is the beginning of
the actual research.
Official Emissions model. Took thaw data and combined with emissions data to receive the
numbers on the Y axis. Accepted my hypothesis.
The second part of my thesis was answered here in this part of it. The Global Habitability
timeline. Key information. In the year 2115-2116, the earth will see a 10.6 degree (F) increase in
global temperature if current trends stay the same.
Discussion/Conclusion:
This research is just the start of something bigger. This combination of natural and
human induced factors of carbon emissions provides for a more accurate way of understanding
the greenhouse effect, and therefore climate change. Over the past three years, this specific topic
has become more relevant as people are now seeing the true severity of it. This is mainly
calculated by the number of articles published then and now. There is only so much a model can
do. It can monitor the problem, but it cannot do anything to prevent or stop this issue.
In the future, I would like to do much more than modelling. However, in the near future, I
need to perfect my various models, and make them as accurate as possible. This will allow me to
have a stronger base, and a greater incentive to go and do field work. Whether that be in the
northern permafrost region, or in an oil drilling area, or in a car manufacturing plant, all could
lead to finding the coveted solution to climate change.
The present study shows an increasing growth in CO2 emissions. And one that is
projected to keep increasing if current trends stay the same. Although this has produced similar
results to experiments regarding emissions, this is unique in the factors it uses. This study can be
useful in many fields of science and can help further missions for that purpose.
References:
Osterkamp, T. E., Jorgenson, M. T., Schuur, E. A., Shur, Y. L., Kanevskiy, M. Z., Vogel, J. G.,
& Tumskoy, V. E. (2009). Physical and ecological changes associated with warming permafrost
and thermokarst in Interior Alaska. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 20 (3), 235-256.
doi:10.1002/ppp.656
Lawrence, D. M., Slater, A. G., Tomas, R. A., Holland, M. M., & Deser, C. (2008). Accelerated
Arctic land warming and permafrost degradation during rapid sea ice loss. Geophysical Research
Letters, 35 (11). doi:10.1029/2008gl033985
Connon, R. F., Quinton, W. L., Craig, J. R., Hanisch, J., & Sonnentag, O. (2015). The hydrology
of interconnected bog complexes in discontinuous permafrost terrains. Hydrological Processes,
29 (18), 3831-3847. doi:10.1002/hyp.10604
Wright, N., Hayashi, M., & Quinton, W. L. (2009). Spatial and temporal variations in active
layer thawing and their implication on runoff generation in peat-covered permafrost terrain.
Water Resources Research Water Resour. Res., 45(5). doi:10.1029/2008wr006880
Anisimov, O. (n.d.). Potential feedback of thawing permafrost to the global climate system
through methane emission. Environ. Res. Lett. Environmental Research Letters, 045016-045016.
Christensen, T. (n.d.). Thawing sub-arctic permafrost: Effects on vegetation and methane
emissions. Geophys. Res. Lett. Geophysical Research Letters .
Anisimov O A, Lavrov S A and Reneva S A 2005a Emission of methane from the Russian
frozen wetlands under the conditions of the changing climate Problems of Ecological Modeling
and Monitoring of Ecosystems ed Y Izrael (St Petersburg: Hydrometeoizdat) pp 124–42
Walter B P, Heimann M and Matthews E 2001 Modeling modern methane emissions from
natural wetlands 1. Model description and results J. Geophys. Res.—Atmos. 106 34189–206
University of Cambridge. (2015, September 21). Emissions from melting permafrost could cost
$43 trillion. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 22, 2015
DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. (2015, October 5). Simpler way to estimate
feedback between permafrost carbon, climate: Scientist leads effort to shed light on a potentially
huge player in the planet's climate.
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