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  • Review Article
  • Published:

The changing thermal state of permafrost

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment volume 3, pages 10–23 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Permafrost temperatures have increased in polar and high-elevation regions, affecting the climate system and the integrity of natural and built environments. In this Review, we outline changes in the thermal state of permafrost, focusing on permafrost temperatures and active-layer thickness. Increases in permafrost temperature vary spatially owing to interactions between climate, vegetation, snow cover, organic-layer thickness and ground ice content. In warmer permafrost (temperatures close to 0 °C), rates of warming are typically less than 0.3 °C per decade, as observed in sub-Arctic regions. In colder permafrost (temperatures less than −2 °C), by contrast, warming of up to about 1 °C per decade is apparent, as in the high-latitude Arctic. Increased active-layer thicknesses have also been observed since the 1990s in some regions, including a change of 0.4 m in the Russian Arctic. Simulations unanimously indicate that warming and thawing of permafrost will continue in response to climate change and potentially accelerate, but there is substantial variation in the magnitude and timing of predicted changes between different models and scenarios. A greater understanding of longer-term interactions between permafrost, climate, vegetation and snow cover, as well as improved model representation of subsurface conditions including ground ice, will further reduce uncertainty regarding the thermal state of permafrost and its future response.

Key points

  • Widespread and persistent warming of permafrost is observed in polar regions and at high elevations since about 1980, at rates that vary regionally.

  • The highest permafrost temperatures in the instrumental record were recorded in 2018–2019 at most sites in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions.

  • Trends in permafrost warming are consistent with trends in air temperature. However, local conditions including snow cover and vegetation modulate the response of permafrost under a warming climate.

  • Permafrost is projected to continue to warm and thaw in response to climatic warming, but there is uncertainty with respect to the magnitude and timing of these changes.

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Fig. 1: Trends in permafrost temperatures from monitoring sites.
Fig. 2: Permafrost temperature time series.
Fig. 3: ALT time series.
Fig. 4: Drivers and conditions influencing the thermal regime of permafrost.
Fig. 5: Impact of snow and environmental disturbance on ground thermal regime.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge support from the Geological Survey of Canada of Natural Resources Canada, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, MeteoSwiss and the Federal Office for the Environment and the Swiss Academy of Sciences, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. S. Wolfe (Geological Survey of Canada) provided helpful comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Sharon L. Smith & H. Brendan O’Neill

  2. Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Oslo, Norway

    Ketil Isaksen

  3. WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos-Dorf, Switzerland

    Jeannette Noetzli

  4. Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA

    Vladimir E. Romanovsky

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S.L.S. and H.B.O′N. conceived and drafted the paper. All authors contributed to the provision of information, editing and revisions.

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Global Climate Observing System: https://gcos.wmo.int/en/home

Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost: https://gtnp.arcticportal.org/

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Smith, S.L., O’Neill, H.B., Isaksen, K. et al. The changing thermal state of permafrost. Nat Rev Earth Environ 3, 10–23 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00240-1

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