YAKUTSK: PRESERVING THE PERMAFROST

UNCLAS VLADIVOSTOK 000010 E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV ECON RS SUBJECT: YAKUTSK: PRESERVING THE PERMAFROST ¶1. Summary. Yakutsk is the largest inhabited area in the world built upon permafrost, and as a result the city is presented with a unique set of challenges. Increasing temperatures have thawed the top layer of frost and building foundations are beginning to shift, causing damage to structures and pipes. Poloff and FSN met with the Acting Director of the Permafrost Research Institute in Yakutsk to discuss how global warming is affecting the city built on ice. City on Ice ¶2. Yakutsk is the largest city in the world that sits atop permafrost and as such experiences unique conditions that make several aspects of life there challenging, especially construction. Below the city rests a layer of frozen earth 300 to 320 meters thick. When warm weather arrives, only the top-most two meters of soil thaws, leaving hundreds of meters of rock-solid dirt beneath. ¶3. All structures in Yakutsk are built atop large concrete pylons that reach several meters under the ground in order to minimize permafrost melting under the buildings. Buildings constructed directly on the ground would drastically shift as the soil beneath freezes, thaws, and refreezes. Though the permanently frozen solid layer below the city would seem to bee a firm foundation to build upon, several structures throughout the city have begun to shift and crack. Resulting burst pipes are a frequent event in the city. Vladivostok Poloff visited the Permafrost Research Institute in Yakutsk to discuss how permafrost affects Yakutsk, and the consequences of global warming on its inhabitants. Among the Frozen Walls of the Permafrost Institute ¶4. On December 18 Conoff met with Viktor Shepelev, the Acting Director of Permafrost Research Institute in Yakutsk. The Institute studies the influence of permafrost on human activities and is run by the Russian Academy of Sciences. Its specialists provide recommendations and consultation services for major private construction projects, and play a part in planning public infrastructure projects such as railroads, highways, and pipelines. ¶5. In addition to researching ways to improve construction methods in permafrost zones, the institute also investigates how groundwater is formed in what they call the 'cryolithic zone,' works to understand heat exchange in frozen and melting rocks, and makes recommendations on environmental management and nature protection in the permafrost zone. It also maintains several permafrost monitoring stations throughout the region. The institute has several joint projects with research facilities in Alaska, Sweden, Mongolia, Germany, and France -- many of which provide financial support. The institute's reports have been published in "Nature" and "Science" magazines. ¶6. After their discussion in the Director's office, Poloff and FSN visited the institute's main research area -- a cavern dug 12 meters into the permanently frozen earth where the temperature is a constant -8C even during summer. The hallways and ceiling are coated with ice crystals in complex geometrical shapes that have been forming for decades. The walls of the cavern look like they are dug into rock, but actually consist of frozen sand. The entrance is decorated with a mammoth bone found while constructing its tunnels. What, Carbon Doesn't Cause Global Warming? ¶7. Local residents have begun complaining of widening cracks in their residences, and officials acknowledged that the shifting permafrost is disrupting the pylon bases on which the city's buildings rest. Many residents point to global warming as the cause. Institute Director Shepelev confirmed that the temperature in Yakutsk has increased 2.5 degrees centigrade during the last 30 years, that winters are getting warmer (-45C instead of -60C),and that Yakutia receives less precipitation than before. ¶8. However, Shepelev firmly denies that the melting permafrost is connected with human activity. He described the history of permafrost in the region to Poloff and stressed that such fluctuations are, in his opinion, normal. He says that based on joint research his institute conducted with the Geophysics Institute in Fairbanks, Alaska, past patterns indicate that a cooling process will begin around 2015 and continue through at least 2050, after which warming will begin again. ¶9. Others at the institute echoed the idea that the problem with crumbling buildings is not a result of human-induced global warming, but of poor construction techniques that the Permafrost institute can help improve. Problems occur when builders fail to leave enough space between the earth and the structure to prevent warming of the soil, when buildings are constructed hastily without waiting for the concrete pilings to settle, and when hot water pipes burst and melt the ice below. ¶10. Comment. Increasing temperatures will likely have a continuing effect on infrastructure in Yakutsk, and barring a reversal in the warming trend, solving the problem of crumbling buildings will require increased efforts from authorities there. It is fascinating to note that the director of a government-sponsored scientific institute firmly believes that increasing temperatures worldwide are not being caused by carbon emissions, but are simply part of a natural cycle. That view may say much about the physical remoteness of city of Yakutsk and the resulting distance from the scientific mainstream. ARMBRUSTER