Increased Precipitation and Thawing Permafrost Kill Boreal Forest Trees in Alaska

FAIRBANKS, ALASKA - MAY 02: A disrupted boardwalk runs near dead and slumping boreal forest Alaska birch trees, standing in floodwaters amid thawing permafrost and snowmelt, at Creamer’s Field on May 2, 2023 in Fairbanks, Alaska. Since heavier precipitation came to Fairbanks beginning in 2014, mostly due to sea ice loss, hundreds of the trees have died at the site due to ongoing flooding and accelerated permafrost melt. What was once a seasonal wetland is becoming more permanent while the boardwalk has been reconstructed various times due to ground subsidence. Worldwide, twenty percent of the carbon stored in forests is held by boreal forests, mostly in permafrost. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Alaska ‘is warming at two to three times the rate of the global average’. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)