{
  "abstract": "Active layer increase may contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, ecosystem change, and increased hazards. Here, we show the results of field measurements of active-layer thickness from 156 monitoring sites in Arctic, Antarctic and mountain permafrost regions. Active layer thickness increased significantly at 55% and 38% of sites in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, at more than 90% European mountain and high elevation Asian sites, and at sites in South America, demonstrating worldwide permafrost degradation during the first quarter of this century (2000-2024). The largest changes were observed in mountain regions where active layer doubled at several sites. The smallest changes were observed at sites with thick surficial organic horizons and high ground ice content. In continuous permafrost, sites generally exhibited smaller increases compared to sites in discontinuous permafrost. Regression analysis indicates Arctic active layer changes are attributable to increasing thawing degree-days, followed by increases in total rainfall. Other permafrost regions require more sites and longer time-series to draw conclusions regarding active layer change attribution.\n\nThe Arctic, high mountains, and Antarctic are typically underlain by permafrost, which is defined as ground material remaining at or below 0 °C for two years or longer 1 . Contemporary permafrost is estimated to underlie nearly 15% of the exposed northern land surface and nearly 100% of Antarctic ice-free areas 2,3 . Cold regions are warming faster than the global average as the loss of ice and snow exposes darker, more absorptive surfaces 4-6 . Regional studies have demonstrated permafrost degradation in the Eurasian and North American Arctic, and mountain permafrost regions of Eurasia 7-11 . Modeling studies project extensive permafrost degradation and a substantial reduction in permafrost extent by the end of the 21st century 12-14 . Near-surface permafrost in fine-grained Arctic deposits and organic-rich soils stores large quantities of organic carbon that, if thawed, may be mobilized and released through biogeochemical processes, thereby amplifying climate warming 15-17 . However, processes including ground-ice melt, soil consolidation, vegetation and snow-cover dynamics contribute to predictive uncertainty 18,19 . These limitations contribute to discrepancies between modeled projections and observed rates of permafrost degradation 8,20 . Consequently, it is critical to systematically quantify",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 64,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Dmitry A Streletskiy"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kelsey E Nyland"
    },
    {
      "name": "Nikolay I Shiklomanov"
    },
    {
      "name": "Emma Haggerty"
    },
    {
      "name": "Michael L Mann"
    },
    {
      "name": "Vasily Tolmanov"
    },
    {
      "name": "Frederick E Nelson"
    },
    {
      "name": "Anna E Klene"
    },
    {
      "name": "Felix Pretis"
    },
    {
      "name": "Lin Chen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Hanne Christiansen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Miguel Angel de Pablo"
    },
    {
      "name": "Dmitry Fyodorov-Davydov"
    },
    {
      "name": "Mauro Guglielmin"
    },
    {
      "name": "Filip Hrbáček"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ketil Isaksen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Margareta Johansson"
    },
    {
      "name": "Marina Leibman"
    },
    {
      "name": "Dario Trombotto Liaudat"
    },
    {
      "name": "Alexey Maslakov"
    },
    {
      "name": "Mikhail Mastepanov"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jeannette Noetzli"
    },
    {
      "name": "Vladimir E Romanovsky"
    },
    {
      "name": "Anarmaa Sharkhuu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Sharon L Smith"
    },
    {
      "name": "Andrey Abramov"
    },
    {
      "name": "Elena Babkina"
    },
    {
      "name": "Julia Boike"
    },
    {
      "name": "Christopher R Burn"
    },
    {
      "name": "Nicoletta Cannone"
    },
    {
      "name": "Wei Cao"
    },
    {
      "name": "Sergey Davydov"
    },
    {
      "name": "Anna Davydova"
    },
    {
      "name": "Reynald Delaloe"
    },
    {
      "name": "Thomas Douglas"
    },
    {
      "name": "Caroline Duchesne"
    },
    {
      "name": "Valery Grebenets"
    },
    {
      "name": "Christian Hauck"
    },
    {
      "name": "Christin Hilbich"
    },
    {
      "name": "Martin Hölzle"
    },
    {
      "name": "Robert K Kaufmann"
    },
    {
      "name": "Alexander L Kholodov"
    },
    {
      "name": "Artem V Khomutov"
    },
    {
      "name": "Michaela Kňažkova"
    },
    {
      "name": "Pavel Konstantinov"
    },
    {
      "name": "Lev Kuziakin"
    },
    {
      "name": "Christophe Lambiel"
    },
    {
      "name": "Guoyu Li"
    },
    {
      "name": "Alexey Lupachev"
    },
    {
      "name": "Florence Magnin"
    },
    {
      "name": "Natsagdorj Sharkhuu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Pavel Orekhov"
    },
    {
      "name": "Cecile Pellet"
    },
    {
      "name": "Marcia Phillips"
    },
    {
      "name": "Paolo Pogliotti"
    },
    {
      "name": "Stefano Ponti"
    },
    {
      "name": "Daniel Alexander Rudd"
    },
    {
      "name": "Oleg Tregubov"
    },
    {
      "name": "Frank Urban"
    },
    {
      "name": "Gonçalo Vieira"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ens8sywh68n47.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1038/s43247-026-03824-1",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "ens8sywh68n47",
  "issns": [
    "2662-4435"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://hal.science/hal-05804692v1",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "hal",
      "0.sde"
    ],
    [
      "hal",
      "1.sde.es"
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    [
      "hal",
      "1.sde.mcg"
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    [
      "openalex",
      "1902|Climate change and permafrost"
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  "openalex": "W7204227421",
  "pdf_url": "https://hal.science/hal-05804692/document",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-08-26",
  "publisher": "Springer Nature",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ens8sywh68n47.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:58Z",
      "native_id": "hal-05804692",
      "source": "hal",
      "url": "https://hal.science/hal-05804692v1"
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  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "hal:1.sde.mcg",
      "subfield": "climate"
    },
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "hal:0.sde",
      "subfield": "environmental-science"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Long-term monitoring of active layer thickness confirms global permafrost degradation",
  "title_text": "Long-term monitoring of active layer thickness confirms global permafrost degradation",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:58Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ens8sywh68n47",
  "venue": "Communications Earth & Environment",
  "versions": []
}