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Published online 30 June 2009 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2009.609
News: Q&A
Observing the scars of the Arctic thaw
Ecologist Breck Bowden talks about the consequences of thawing permafrost in Alaska.
Last week marked the start of a US$5 million project to study the effects of thawing permafrost on ecosystems in the Arctic. Based at the Toolik Field Station in northern Alaska and sponsored by the US National Science Foundation, the project will look at the impact of thermokarsts — the scars and pits left behind as melt water from permanently frozen ground leaks away, and soil and rock collapses in its wake.
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