| Title | Sensitivity of permafrost to climate warming in Canada |
| Download | Downloads |
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| Licence | Please note the adoption of the Open Government Licence - Canada
supersedes any previous licences. |
| Author | Smith, S L ;
Burgess, M M |
| Source | Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin no. 579, 2004, 24 pages (1 sheet); 1 CD-ROM, https://doi.org/10.4095/216137  Open Access |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2004 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; CD-ROM; on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | British Columbia; Alberta; Saskatchewan; Manitoba; Ontario; Quebec; New Brunswick; Nova Scotia; Prince Edward Island; Newfoundland and Labrador; Northwest Territories; Yukon; Nunavut; Canada |
| NTS | 3; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 22; 23; 24; 25; 26; 27; 28; 29; 32; 33; 34; 35; 36; 37; 38; 39; 42; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48; 49; 53; 54; 55; 56; 57; 58; 59; 63; 64; 65; 66; 67; 68; 69; 73; 74; 75; 76; 77; 78; 79; 83;
84; 85; 86; 87; 88; 89; 93; 94; 95; 96; 97; 98; 99; 103; 104; 105; 106; 107; 114O; 114P; 115; 116; 117; 120; 340; 560 |
| Lat/Long WENS | -142.0000 -56.0000 84.0000 49.0000 |
| Subjects | surficial geology/geomorphology; environmental geology; Nature and Environment; permafrost; ground ice; freezing ground; terrain sensitivity; snow; vegetation; thermal analyses; Climate change;
Cenozoic |
| Illustrations | thermal response maps; sketch maps; photographs; flow charts |
| Released | 2004 12 17; 2009 05 29 |
| Abstract | A major concern in climate-change impact studies in polar regions is the effect of climate warming on the permafrost environment. About half the present permafrost region in Canada contains permafrost
at a temperature greater than -2C and models suggest that most of this could ultimately disappear in response to climate warming.
Local environmental factors and ground-surface conditions will determine the response of the ground-thermal
regime to increasing air temperature (thermal response), and also the impact of any permafrost thaw (physical response) that might occur. These factors have been combined to characterize and map, at a national scale, the potential thermal and
physical response of permafrost in Canada to warming. These components have been combined into a sensitivity index map.
Within a large portion of the region containing warm permafrost, the sensitivity of permafrost to climate warming is
considered to be moderate to high. In these regions, the potential for substantial thaw settlement exists and consideration of its impact on buildings, utilities, roads, railways, pipelines, and containment structures may be required. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 216137 |
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