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This photo is from Photo Gallery: Arctic Climate Change
Alaska Permafrost Meltwater
Photograph courtesy Goddard Space Flight Center
Permafrost—the frozen soil that forms the backbone of the Arctic tundra—is melting due to climbing global temperatures. In Alaska, the mercury may rise by 1 to 5 degrees Celsius (1.8 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100. In this false-color image of Alaska's North Slope, taken by NASA's Terra satellite, the blue-black color shows the many ponds of meltwater that collected on the coast in July 2007.