The Second Scientific and Practical Conference “Climate Change and Permafrost Thaw” unites leading scientists and experts from Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Mongolia.
An international conference, which started on September 24 in Yakutsk, Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia, finally answered the acute question of how is it going, permafrost degradation, is interacting with climate change. The Second Scientific and Practical Conference “Climate Change and Permafrost Thaw” unites leading scientists and experts from Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Mongolia. This is the first such international exchange in more than two years and is expected to further cooperation in the fight against the melting of permafrost and the dangers of natural carbon emissions.
Significance for India!
Although the conference is taking place thousands of kilometres away, the topics to be discussed during the debates bear a very strong relevance to India. Often referred to as the “Third Pole,” the Himalayas host extensive areas of permafrost. There are recent studies, on the basis of infrared satellite data, which found more than 200 rock glaciers in the Jhelum basin in Kashmir Himalayas. Such features of permafrost involve a lot of ice and water, and their degradation might lead to severe disastrous natural hazards like landslides and glacial lake outburst floods.
Dr. Remya S N, Assistant Professor in the Amrita School for Sustainable Futures in Kerala, stayed clear with this sense of urgency even in a study back from Jan 2024: “In this ever-warming world, permafrost thawing makes these regions unstable and hazardous to nearby settlements and important infrastructures.”
The researchers also found rock glaciers located near glacial lakes, such as Chirsar and Bramsar in the Kashmir Himalayas, during several field visits. These features enhance the probability of GLOFs that could result in extensive destruction of surrounding regions. More frequent landslides are one of the factors when permafrost degradation takes place, and this may be related to more unstable melting ice layers beneath the ground surface.
Understanding Permafrost Degradation: Global Efforts in the Sustainable Development Forum
Organized by Andrey Melnichenko Foundation, the Second Scientific and Practical Conference on Climate Change and Permafrost Thaw was held within the frames of the Fifth Northern Forum on Sustainable Development. International cooperation in monitoring permafrost’s role within the context of the carbon cycle was the main focus during the conference.
The Melnichenko Foundation focuses on zero hunger, quality education and climate action. It seeks to support the promotion of nature-based solutions within the current global climate agenda.
A discussion of opinions among the leading experts on permafrost studies and problems of the Arctic climate of the USA, Norway, Mongolia and Russia has turned out to be the most representative forum on this topic for the last two years.
The speakers provided the results of research based on the monitoring of climatic change within the Arctic region, gave scientific estimates of the consequences of permafrost thawing, and offered scenarios for seeking out means to decrease risks of uncontrolled CO₂ emissions from natural sources. One of the principal distinctive properties of the cryolithozone of the Arctic region is its concealing large pools of carbon, which could abruptly be released into the atmosphere and thus produce an effect comparable to anthropogenic emission. However, the problems of this scientific direction are not studied adequately.
According to the participants, a global discussion of climate risks without Russia is impossible so far, and especially it is impossible regarding the problems of permafrost. On the other hand, without international cooperation, it is impossible to perform applied research tasks, including effective cryolithozone monitoring. At the moment, though, the level of dialogue is not high enough.
The insights and collaborations that this conference will facilitate may be invaluable for India. An understanding of the dynamics of permafrost may become crucial for assessing the level of natural disasters in the Himalayas. The knowledge exchange may help Indian scientists and policymakers devise ways to monitor permafrost zones and manage the associated hazards.
New Generation Takes Action: The Sister Ecosystems Initiative
While the discussions on scientific matters were informative and very important, the conference focused as well on the involvement of the young generation in climate action through a session styled “Sister Ecosystems: New Generation Environmental Initiatives.”
Three activists from Russia, Kenya, and Uzbekistan became the first participants of the agreement, having agreed to consider the ecosystems of the Yakutian permafrost, Kenyan forests, and the Aral Sea as “sisters.”
The countries were represented by schoolgirls Yana Gorokhova-molecular geneticist (Republic of Sakha [Yakutia], Russian Federation), Karen Wanjiru Kimani/ecologist (Republic of Kenya), and Jasmina Dzhumaniyazova/biologist (Republic of Uzbekistan). They also emphasized their experiences in how they, despite their young age, can succeed in developing environmental projects for the preservation of ecosystems within their regions.
“We want not only ‘Sister Ecosystems’ to turn out to be an analogue of sister cities, but also, with the help of such an exchange, to establish as many horizontal connections as possible among young eco-activists who are united by their concern and desire to preserve the planet for the future. It can be a good response to the visible fragmentation of the global environmental community that has taken place in recent years. The initiative is open for new ecosystems from different countries to join through their young representatives,” noted the general director of the Melnichenko Foundation, Tatyana Zhuravleva. In the next near future, about 10 new entrants may be added to the informal compact of Sister Ecosystems,” she said.