Southern Sierran
Earthwatch at the Arctic Edge

By Joe Young

Photo courtesy Joe Young Probing the soil to find the permafrost level.

I recently participated in the Earthwatch expedition studying “Climate Change at the Arctic’s Edge.” Eleven volunteers from four countries joined the researchers for 10 days at the Churchill Northern Studies Center to study climate change. We cored trees, counted trees (to see if the forest was moving into the tundra area, which would be a sign of warming temps), and probed in the ground to check for the depth of the permafrost layer (lowering levels, or disappearance, would indicate warming). We also took a day off and saw some polar bears.

Photo courtesy Joe Young A polar bear walking.

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