News

www.icop2016.org The 11th International Conference on Permafrost (ICOP 2016) will be held in Potsdam, Germany, 20-24 June 2016. The conference aims at covering all relevant aspects of permafrost research, engineering and outreach on a global and regional level. Check out the conference trailer here: http://www.icop2016.org/index.php/medias/videos. We hereby open the call 1 December 2015 via the external conference registration system ConfTool (https://www.conftool.pro/icop2016/). For this system you ha…

The Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (GTN-P) held its Second GTN-P National Correspondents Workshop in Quebec, Canada, September 19-20. Dmitry Streletsky (George Washington University, Washington DC, USA) was elected as the new Chair of the Steering Committee for the coming four years. Boris Biskaborn (AWI, Germany) was appointed as the Director of the Secretariat. The workshop was attended by 33 permafrost scientists acting as National Correspondents (NC) for 25 Countries involved in GTN-P. D…

This Saturday (19/09/2015) at the GeoQuébec 2015 conference in Quebec, Canada the first online data portal on global permafrost will be presented. In the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (GTN-P) researchers first collect all the existing permafrost temperature and active thickness layer data from Arctic, Antarctic and mountain permafrost regions and then make it freely available for download. This new portal can serve as an early warning system for researchers and decision-makers around the g…

Dear Permafrost enthusiasts, The ICOP is also the place to organize business meetings. These can be related to ongoing programs, international committees or upcoming projects. The ICOP organizers have reserved rooms for these business meetings on the 17, 18, 19 and 25 of June 2016. No business meeting will be allowed during the week (20-24 June) to avoid conflict with scientific sessions and social events. The ICOP organizers will provide a room and projection material. Lunch or coffee can be arranged …

Call for funded IPA Action Group applicationsDeadline: 30/10/2015Funding: Up to 2500 €/yearMore information: http://ipa.arcticportal.org/activities/action-groups Dear IPA members, The IPA is pleased to introduce a call for funded Action Groups. Action Groups are meant to fund targeted groups working towards the production of well-defined products. Action Groups will be funded on a competitive basis at up to 2500 € per year (maximum of 5000 € over the life of an Action Group). Up to 10 000 € per…

A new study by Overduin et al. (IPA Action Group chair "Subsea Permafrost Mapping Data Initiative (2012-2014)") shows that methane concentrations in submarine permafrost cored in the central Laptev Sea shelf are low. The permafrost below the seabed is thawing, which releases the methane.ÂÂÂ At this location, results show that the methane is oxidized in the unfrozen sediment above the permafrost before it reaches the water column. Early view in JGR-Biogeosciences is available here: http://agupubs.onl…

Harley Jesse (Jess) Walker, born on the Fourth of July, 1921 (two days after President Harding signed the resolution that officially ended WW I and a day before a patent was issued on a new type of milking machine), outlived his two parents and one sister but is blessed to leave one sister, a wife (Rita), three daughters, nine grandchildren and four great grandchildren all healthy, productive and enjoyable to be around. A member of the 'Greatest Generation' and a USMC pilot of World War II, Jess had as…

Dear Permafrost enthusiasts, check out a new interview with IPA President Antoni Lewkowicz. He gave a MOOC (massive open on-line course) interview for Denial101x. Denial101x isn’t just a climate MOOC; it’s a MOOC about how people think about climate change. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmTfqLOmNXc

The Spanish Committee is organising a permafrost course at the University of Valladolid (Valladolid, Spain), in Spanish language, to interested people. The course will take place in May 2015, 18th to 20th. For more information click on the following pdf.

Permafrost in the Arctic and in subarctic regions will most likely continually release substantial quantities of greenhouse gases over the coming decades: that’s the verdict of an international research team, which recently compiled and analysed the latest permafrost studies. As such, they have determined that the recurring thesis that there will be a sudden and widespread release of billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide and methane is highly unlikely. The study was released last week (09.04.2015) in …