The perils of thawing permafrost

[Øivind Tøien]

This house is not far from where I live in Fairbanks. I chose to place it in this section as the problem is nature related, although images show man made structures.  Some remote villages in Alaska are much worse off requiring a complete move of a whole village as the thawing permafrost leads to erosion near coast or rivers.

First a capture of the house just a few days ago; I believe someone are still living there:
#1


NIKON D7100,  135 mm f/2.8 AIS @ f/6.3, 1/125, ISO 640


A 2011 capture of the same, incidentally also captured just a few days forward in April:
#2


NIKON D200, 105 mm f/2.5 AIS @ f/8, 1/45, ISO 100


Hard to know how to keep the camera level here, far away trees are the clue. The nearby tree shows some signs of the instability of the ground as it has been growing, we call them drunken trees:
#3


NIKON D200, 200 mm f/4 AI @ f/5.6, 1/40, ISO 100

[Airy]

Most impressive. Those zones were safe for eathquakes, and now got something else in replacement.
Any risk of methane explosions, by the way ?

[Øivind Tøien]

Thanks for commenting Airy. We are not safe for earthquakes but rather in a highly active seismic area (permafrost does not help). I have myself experienced one of 7.9 magnitude. However there is not much to destroy and after the big one in near Anchorage in 1964 of 9.2 magnitude (https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/events/alaska1964/), Alaska has learned the lesson and has building codes and design of infrastructure (e.g. the oil pipline) accordingly. Regarding effects of thawing like in the images, there can be ice lenses in the ground, which on thawing can open up sinkholes.

Methane is often related to landfills which is not the case here. But one can for instance find methane bubbles in ice on lakes and have some fun breaking those bubbles and set them on fire. The tundra has large stores of methane in the ground which has the potential to be released on thawing.

[rosko]

This is a terrible event. Not as violent as earthquake, but involving huge lost.

Mobil homes are the solution.

[Akira]

Even though the affect of thawing permafrost should not be as instantaneous as that of earthquake, that obviously is a significant problem.  The images are terrifying.  It will cause slow death of a community, as you say.

On the other hand, the "drunken tree" looks interesting.  Apparently the branches on the right side are longer.  Are they for balancing out the affect of the ground sinking towards the left?

[Øivind Tøien]

Thanks for the comments both of you.
Rosko, another solution is to have adjustable supports beneath the structure so that when the ground changes it can be compensated.
Akira, not sure about the tree, asymmetric branches can also be caused by neighbors blocking light (the bigger branches point toward south) although none are seen in the images. It could perhaps be risky when snow loaded and balance changes. Here are a couple of other examples of drunken trees in our neighborhood. It is almost strange they are holding up with the snow load. A lot of them came down this winter though. I recall one day we had about 5 power outs.

[Akira]

Øivind, thank you for your answer with the additional images.  That makes sense.  You live in a very severe environment.

[Airy]

Thanks for commenting Airy. We are not safe for earthquakes but rather in a highly active seismic area (permafrost does not help).

Sorry, my wrong, I forgot that some permafrost areas are located along the pacific belt of fire, or how-do-you-call-it. And of course Anchorage earthquake is in all memories, at least for those interested - I have myself lived in an earthquake-prone (Taiwan) zone for 3 1/2 years. Landslides were also common there, but permafrost much less.

In the meantime I found lots of pictures about thawing permafrost and its visible effects. Not as nice as yours, but chilling, if I may say so. Especially the drunken trees - one does not know how to look at them - with an optimist's eye (nature making do) or a pessimist's (all going crazy).

[Øivind Tøien]

Well, on the bright side the drunken trees are pretty photogenic  , and they are not all signs of the doom of global warming. It is a natural process that the upper layer of the permafrost will thaw in the time course of the summer, and since the ice beneath blocks water from escaping, the ground gets inherently water sogged and unstable in low areas, part of the reason behind the drunken trees. It is when this keeps expanding and previously year long frozen ground and ice lenses deeper down starts thawing that more dramatic things can happen.

Let me add that the house is one of the worst examples I have seen around Fairbanks. A number of smaller communities out there are in much worse trouble. In case anyone are interested in further reading here is a link to an article from last year: https://www.npr.org/2017/01/10/509176361/alaskan-village-citing-climate-change-seeks-disaster-relief-in-order-to-relocate

[Akira]

Thank you for the link to the article.  I haven't been aware of the thawing permafrost problem and its effect on the people living in those areas.