Frozen no more, a case study of Arctic permafrost impacts of oil and gas withdrawal
Approximately 8100 km<sup>2</sup> of Alaska are leased to the oil and gas industry for exploration and extraction. According to industry estimates, subsurface expansion from these leases could cover up to 130.2 km<sup>2</sup> per pad. As industrial oil extraction activities increase across the thawing Alaskan permafrost, impacts on the permafrost environment will include rapid thaw, increased hydrological flux, and the release of climate warming greenhouse gases. Here, we use remote sensing and field observations to provide a first-order comparison of the direct impacts to the permafrost tundra from oil well pads, and the long-term consequences of a legacy oil pads on the warming North Slope of Alaska. We find that oil well pads on the permafrost accelerate permafrost degradation and persist despite remediation.
Authors
- Kimberley Miner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1006-1283)
- Bradley Gay (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2617-2559)
- Daniel Sousa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1632-1955)
- Latha Baskaran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8487-3914)
- Charles E. Miller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9380-4838)
Institutions
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory (US)
- San Diego State University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2024-10-25
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-76292-2
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Climate change and permafrost
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.75
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- California Institute of Technology
- Nuclear Safety and Security Commission
- National Institute of Food and Agriculture
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Science Mission Directorate