Multisource Synthesized Inventory of CRitical Infrastructure and HUman-Impacted Areas in AlaSka (SIRIUS) ...

• Main Authors: Kaiser, Soraya, Boike, Julia, Grosse, Guido, Langer, Moritz
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin 2024
• Subjects: 550 Geowissenschaften; permafrost; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.18452/29292; https://edoc.hu-berlin.de/handle/18452/29917

The Arctic region has undergone warming at a rate more than 3 times higher than the global average. This warming has led to the degradation of near-surface permafrost, resulting in decreased ground stability. This instability not only poses a primary hazard to Arctic infrastructure and human-impacted areas but can also lead to secondary ecological hazards from infrastructure failure associated with hazardous materials. This development underscores the need for a comprehensive inventory of critical infrastructure and human-impacted areas. The inventory should be linked to environmental data to assess their susceptibility to permafrost degradation as well as the ecological consequences that may arise from infrastructure failure. Here, we provide such an inventory for Alaska, a vast state covering approximately 1.7 × 106 km2, with a population of over 733 000 people and a history of industrial development on permafrost. Our Synthesized Inventory of CRitical Infrastructure and HUman-Impacted Areas in AlaSka ...