Douglas said he was at a meeting a few years ago with other permafrost researchers when talk turned to the recent rainy summers in Alaska. They found that more summer rainfall led to "enhanced permafrost thaw" at several different sites. Fabrice Calmels, a permafrost researcher at Yukon University, has also observed an apparent relationship between summer rainfall, and observable permafrost thaw the following year. Fabrice Calmels, a permafrost researcher at Yukon University, said he could see evidence of more thaw in the year following a wet summer. He says researchers were lucky to have two very wet summers in recent years to focus on.

Source: CBC News August 10, 2020 23:03 UTC