Climate Change and Dynamics of Permafrost Ecosystems of the Center of the Continental Cryolithozone of the Northern Hemisphere

Abstract

The article discusses the impact of global climate change on the components of the natural environment of the permafrost zone (e.g.., the center of the continental cryolithozone of the Northern Hemisphere). These changes have significantly intensified the dynamics of the climate parameters of the region: the average annual air temperatures, precipitation, and the duration of seasons of the year, which correlates with the dynamics of the active soil layer, the upper layers of cryogenic soils, and the increase in the seasonal thawing depth of soil. In turn, influenced by these factors, the water content of large areas is changing and the relic of Pleistocene glaciations—the ice complex—is degrading. The transformation of the basis for the existence of terrestrial ecosystems—the soil cover and, on the whole, the landscape located on the ice complex—indicates irreversible changes in the entire natural environment of the continental cryolithozone. Climate warming affects the living components of nature, causing the expansion of many animal and plant species from south to north. Taking into account the fact that the cryolithozone occupies more than 60% of Russian territory and is a repository of natural resources, a new approach to planning and conducting scientific research, as well as economic activity, in the permafrost zone is particularly relevant.