![]() ![]() ![]() Coming on the heels of a series of extreme weather events like the catastrophic flooding in Europe and the deadly heat wave in the U.S. Permafrost instability is a major threat to the Arctic ecosystem, but it also has enormous consequences for climate change worldwide. The study’s lead author, Julie Albaric, an environmental seismologist currently affiliated with the University Bourgogne Franche-Comté, and her team at NORSAR found that seismic waves beneath Svalbard appear to be slowing down, likely due to permafrost thawing. Now, a study published in Seismological Research Letters shows that seismic monitoring can also be used to observe stark warming trends in the Arctic. These seismographs were deployed by scientists at NORSAR (or NORwegian Seismic Array), an independent research foundation that listens for earthquakes and possible nuclear explosions as part of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Scientists install a temporary seismic network around the Adventdalen Valley, Svalbard in May 2014. But just outside the town of Longyearbyen, the northernmost settlement in the world, the seasonal rhythms that play out underground are recorded by a cluster of machines tuned to vibrations in the Earth. On the surface, these extreme cycles are tracked by reindeer, polar bears, and about 2,400 fulltime residents. Halfway between Norway and the North Pole, the archipelago of Svalbard oscillates each year between the midnight sun and the polar night, when the darkness of winter is broken only by the moon and the Northern Lights. Candidate, Michigan State University Koenig, L., 2021, Seismic waves reveal the Arctic is on shaky ground, Temblor, As climate change raises temperatures across the Arctic, the seismic waves traveling through permafrost in Svalbard, Norway, are slowing down.īy Lauren Koenig, Ph.D. ![]()
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