Permafrost (from perma- 'permanent', and frost) is soil or underwater sediment which continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two years or more: the oldest permafrost had been continuously frozen for around 700,000 years.

1. By: Avishek Dutta
Sudeept Kumar
Baishno Nanda Rath
Ayusman Panda
Tamanna Mohanty
Swekruti Mallick
Guided By: Mrs. Suchismita Mohapatra

2. What is Permafrost?
• Soil or rock that remains below 0°C
throughout the year, or may be for two or
more years.
• Ice is not always present, frequently
occurs.
• Moisture in the form of either water or
ice may
or may not be present.
• Permafrost may therefore be unfrozen,
partially frozen, or frozen depending on
the state of the ice/water content.

3. • North America
• Scandinavia
• Russia
• China
• 440 m in Barrow, Alaska
• 600 m in the Canadian Arctic Islands
• 1493 m in the northern Lena and
Yana River basins in Siberia

4. • Global Warming
• Climate Change
• Human Activities
• Natural Calamities

5. • Affects Infrastructure
• Release of Greenhouse Gases
• Change from Carbon Storehouse
to Carbon Emitter
• Releasing New Bacteria or Viruses

6. Permafrost is soil, rock or sediment that is frozen for more
than two consecutive years. In areas not covered by ice, it
exists beneath a layer of soil, rock or sediment, which
freezes and thaws annually and is called the "active layer".
In practice, this means that permafrost occurs at an mean
annual temperature of −2 °C (28.4 °F) or below. Active
layer thickness varies with the season, but is 0.3 to 4
meters thick (shallow along the Arctic coast; deep in
southern Siberia and the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau).
• Continuity of coverage
- Discontinuous permafrost
- Continuous permafrost
• Alpine permafrost
• Subsea permafrost

7. • Hailstone:
- Permanently frozen ground
- Temperatures have remained below 0 °C for at least 2 years
• Continuous Hailstone:
- Mean annual air temperatures of below 5 °C all year, as low
as -50o C.
• Discontinuous Hailstone:
- Slightly warmer areas
- Islands of permanently frozen ground separated by small
pockets of unfrozen less cold areas.
- Mean annual temps of between -1 °C and -5 °C.
• Active layer:
- Summer temperatures sufficient to melt
- This layer can be very mobile
- It varies in thickness depending on latitude and vegetation
cover.
• Talik:
- Any unfrozen material within the permafrost zone.

8. • Between 1978 and 2020, permafrost temperatures increased at 14
of the 15 borehole.
• Permafrost has warmed more quickly in northern Alaska than
interior Alaska.
• The Deadhorse site in northern Alaska.
• Increased acid deposition.
• Increased photochemical smog.
• Degradation of outdoor pains and plastics.
• CFCs act as green house gases.
Permafrost thaw ponds on peatland in Hudson
Bay, Canada in 2008.

9. During thaw, the ice content of the soil melts and, as
the water drains or evaporates, causes the soil structure
to weaken and sometimes become viscous until it
regains strength with decreasing moisture content.
Thawing can also influence the rate of change of soil
gases with the atmosphere.

10. • Accentuate Climate Change
• Tropical Challenges Spreading Up Into Higher Latitudes
• Prevalence of Zoonotic Diseases
• Rise of Viruses And Bacteria
• Epidemic And Pandemic
• Virus Samples From Tibetan Plateau

11. Permafrost change in Northeast China in the 1950s–2010s-
• Northeast China
• Climate warming
• Permafrost degradation
• Impact of environmental factors

12. • Higher temperatures caused by global
warming have led to greater-than-average
summer melting of large ice formations like
mountain glaciers as well as diminished
snowfall due to later winters and earlier
springs.
• That creates an imbalance between runoff
and ocean evaporation, causing sea levels to
rise.
• Loss of Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets:
As with mountain glaciers, increased heat is
causing the massive ice sheets that cover
Greenland and Antarctica to melt more
quickly, and also move more quickly into the
sea.

13. Global: Global sea level has been rising over the past
century, and the rate has accelerated in recent decades.
The average global sea level has risen 8.9 inches
between 1880 and 2015. That’s much faster than in the
previous 2,700 years. Also, Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) released ‘The Special Report on
the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate’ in
2019 which underlined the dire changes taking place in
oceans, glaciers, and ice-deposits on land and sea.
Regional: SLR is not uniform across the world.
Regional SLR may be higher or lower than Global SLR
due to subsidence, upstream flood control, erosion,
regional ocean currents, variations in land height, and
compressive weight of Ice Age glaciers.

14. • Coastal Flooding: Globally, eight of the world's 10 largest
cities are near a coast, which is threatened by coastal
flooding.
• Destruction of Coastal Biodiversity.
• Dangerous Storm Surges: Higher sea levels are
coinciding with more dangerous hurricanes and
typhoons leading to loss of life and property.
• Lateral and Inland Migration.
• Impact on Infrastructure.

15. India's 7,516-kilometre-long coastline includes 5,422
kilometres of coastline on the mainland and 2,094
kilometres on the islands belonging to nine states and
four Union Territories.
The coastline accounts for 90% of the country's trade
and it spans 3,331 coastal villages and 1,382 islands.
Rate of Sea Level Rise :
• Global average : 3.2 mm/year
• Northern Bay of Bengal : 5mm/year

16. Essential steps to mitigate the risks :
• Reducing Carbon footprint
• Reducing usage of fossil fuels
• Switching to renewable energy resources
• Implementing strict law against pollution
• Afforestation
• Wetland preservation
• Spreading general awareness
Precautions regarding inevitable consequences :
• Regular monitoring of concerned areas
• Constructing required structures
• Policy for Climate Refugees

17. Targets for this decade :
• Carbon emissions: Absolute and per capita reductions
of 25% by 2025 and 45% by 2030.
• Electricity consumption: Per capita reductions of 20%
by 2025 and 35% by 2030.
• Renewable energy: 40% by 2025 and 80% by 2030 of
consumed electricity.
• Commercial air travel: Per capita emissions reductions
of 10% by 2025 and 15% by 2030.

18. 1. Jakobshavn Project in Greenland :
The scientific journal Nature suggested
building a 100-metre-long dam in front of
the Jakobshavn glacier (Greenland), the
worst affected by Arctic melting, to contain
its erosion.

19. 2. Combining Artificial Icebergs :
Indonesian architect has won an award for his
project Refreeze the Arctic, which consists of
collecting water from melted glaciers, desalinating
it and refreezing it to create large hexagonal ice
blocks.
Some researchers propose a solution to
manufacture more ice. Their proposal consists of
collecting ice from below the glacier through pumps
driven by wind power to spread it over the upper ice
caps, so that it will freeze, thus strengthening the
consistency.
3. Increasing Permafrost Thickness :

20. “ We are the first generation to feel the effect of
climate change and the last generation who can
do something about it”
- Barrack Obama
The growing interest in perennially frozen ground of cold
mountain ranges is justified and the rapidly developing
progress in this young research field must be considered
timely and most welcome. Cumulative effort of concerned
authorities as well as of common people accross the globe
is our last hope to save our civilization from its catastrophic
fate.