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Reply to: Permafrost thaw and northern development

Nature Climate Change volume 10, pages 724–725 (2020)Cite this article

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The Original Article was published on 29 July 2020

replying to H. B. O’Neill et al. Nature Climate Change https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0862-5 (2020)

O’Neill et al.1 argue that some of the assumptions in the land surface scheme of the climate model we used2 are not valid. They1 also state that no field evidence exists of the abrupt, broad-scale transitions of soil environments above permafrost projected in our study2. In addition, they contend that the statements concerning changes to bearing capacity and flood risk in our Letter2 are misleading. Here we address each of the points above, none of which preclude our original conclusion that the effects of abrupt soil drying due to permafrost thaw could pose considerable risks to northern ecosystems, communities and infrastructure.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    B. Teufel & L. Sushama

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  1. B. Teufel
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  2. L. Sushama
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Both authors contributed to drafting, reviewing and finalizing the Reply.

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Correspondence to B. Teufel.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Peer review information Nature Climate Change thanks Jan Hjort and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Teufel, B., Sushama, L. Reply to: Permafrost thaw and northern development. Nat. Clim. Chang. 10, 724–725 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0861-6

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