The Risk of Permafrost Thaw on People, Infrastructure & Our Future Climate
Nov. 10, 2021


George Sutherland profile picture
George Sutherland
Senior Advisor, Climate Analytics
Sun Glare Frost Sun Glare Frost Sun Glare Frost
  • https://climateinstitute.bmo.com/static/images/clock-icon.svg 5 Minute Read Clock
  • Listen Listen
  • Stop Listen
  • Text Bigger | Smaller Text Bigger | Smaller

"There are huge areas of permafrost that contain a significant amount of organic matter. Now that the climate is warming and impacting permafrost, the problem means that if you're releasing greenhouse gas, you contribute to a warmer atmosphere even more," says Dr. Fabrice Calmels, Permafrost and Geoscience Research Chair at the Yukon University Research Center.

Join George Sutherland, Climate Change and Sustainability Advisor in BMO's Climate Institute, Paul Murchison, Executive Director, Major Transportation Programs at Government of Yukon, and Dr. Fabrice in part two of our Impacts of a Changing Climate series. The three experts discuss the science of how climate change is impacting permafrost, the trends, and risk of permafrost thaw, and how permafrost is fundamentally linked to all of us through environmental systems.

In this episode:

  • How the cost of thawing permafrost is estimated at $1.3 billion over the next 75 years in the Northwest territories alone

  • How permafrost is impacting communities in the North

  • Why the annual costs to maintain roads impacted by permafrost are so high

  • How more than 25% of our transportation network is underlined by permafrost

  • Approaches to enhance resilience of instrastructure networks to permafrost thaw

 


Sustainability Leaders podcast is live on all major channels including AppleGoogle and Spotify.


Climate Institute Logo