Climate Change Demonstration through Modeling of a Thawing Permafrost

• Main Author: Standriff, Stephanie
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: ScholarWorks@GVSU 2012
• Subjects: Environment; Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/ssd/2012/posters/140

The issue of global climate change (GCC) needs to be demonstrated and discussed in order for people to recognize its importance. Isolating and presenting a specific environmental effect of GCC can help to make the complex issue seem less daunting and overwhelming. This demonstration will look specifically at permafrost, permanently frozen ground, and the role that preservation of permafrost has in preventing GCC. The permafrost model (soil and ice layers with one side being warmed) used thermochron ibuttons to measure soil temperature every ten minutes. The purpose of this presentation is to show the data collected from the model compared to scientist's data collected from real permafrost. This comparison will be shown by graphs to help the public understand the importance that data collection and analysis has for understanding GCC. The presentation will also make viewers aware of the negative effects of thawing permafrost and what they can do to help prevent permafrost from thawing.