Assessing Permafrost Collapse: India’s Arctic Expedition for Climate Disaster Prevention

Assessing Permafrost Collapse: India’s Arctic Expedition for Climate Disaster Prevention

Sub : Geo

Sec: Climatology

Why in News

Glaciologist S.N. Remya from Kerala, currently part of India’s Arctic Expedition at the Himadri research station in Norway, is studying permafrost collapse—a significant concern due to climate change. Her research focuses on the potential disaster risks from melting permafrost in the Himalayas and aims to provide early warnings to vulnerable communities.

What is permafrost?

Permafrost is essentially any ground that stays frozen — 0 degree Celsius or lower — for at least two years straight. These permanently frozen grounds are often found in Arctic regions such as Greenland, Alaska (the United States), Canada, Russia and Eastern Europe.

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), permafrost is composed of “a combination of soil, rocks and sand that are held together by ice. The soil and ice in permafrost stay frozen all year long.” However, although the ground remains perennially frozen, permafrost regions aren’t always covered with snow.

Impact of Global Warming: The warming climate is causing these ice layers to melt, leading to permafrost thaw, which can destabilize the ground.

Relevance of Permafrost in the Himalayas:Permafrost collapse is becoming an increasingly significant issue in the upper Himalayan regions.While it’s unclear if permafrost collapse has directly contributed to recent disasters like the South Lhonak glacial lake floodin Sikkim, the possibility requires further study.

About Lhonak lake: It is a glacial-moraine-dammed lake, located in Sikkim’s far northwestern region.It is one of the fastest expanding lakes in the Sikkim Himalaya region, and one of the 14 potentially dangerous lakes susceptible to Glacial Lake outburst flood (GLOFs).

The Himadri station:It is situated in the Ny-Alesund region of Svalbard, Norway.

It is India’s first permanent Arctic research station.It is located at a distance of 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) from the North Pole.

India has an atmospheric science facility called Gruvebadet Observatory that houses various atmospheric observation networks.