05-16-2023, 06:30 AM
A new report in Scientific American suggests that Mauna Kea's unique permafrost will soon disappear due to climate change. The summit region of Mauna Kea is the only known place in Hawaii where permafrost exists but those areas are becoming smaller.
"That’s not all. Near the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii’s tallest peak at nearly 14,000 feet, there’s another surprise: two patches of rare tropical permafrost, a type of continuously frozen soil most often associated with the frosty Arctic.
Mauna Kea is the only place in Hawaii where it’s known to occur — and it’s likely dying out. Surveys have found the patches are shrinking over time."
https://www.scientificamerican.com/artic...-its-gone/
The article goes on to say:
"A few factors have allowed it to persist over the years. The permafrost patches are nestled in the cradle of two craters near the top of Mauna Kea, which help shade them from the sun. Snow, when it’s present, also reflects sunlight away.
Temperatures at the surface of the ground still tend to hover a few degrees above freezing. But because of some complex processes involving the placement of snow and ice as well as the way water melts and percolates through the top layers of the soil and transfers heat between the ground and the atmosphere, the soil tends to be colder underground than it is at the surface."
"That’s not all. Near the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii’s tallest peak at nearly 14,000 feet, there’s another surprise: two patches of rare tropical permafrost, a type of continuously frozen soil most often associated with the frosty Arctic.
Mauna Kea is the only place in Hawaii where it’s known to occur — and it’s likely dying out. Surveys have found the patches are shrinking over time."
https://www.scientificamerican.com/artic...-its-gone/
The article goes on to say:
"A few factors have allowed it to persist over the years. The permafrost patches are nestled in the cradle of two craters near the top of Mauna Kea, which help shade them from the sun. Snow, when it’s present, also reflects sunlight away.
Temperatures at the surface of the ground still tend to hover a few degrees above freezing. But because of some complex processes involving the placement of snow and ice as well as the way water melts and percolates through the top layers of the soil and transfers heat between the ground and the atmosphere, the soil tends to be colder underground than it is at the surface."