Katie Orlinsky

美國，刊載於《國家地理雜誌》

環境議題　系列　第三名

在阿拉斯加的紐托克，孩子們在一次夏季鳥禽狩獵中穿越一條淹水的人行道。由於融化永凍土的侵蝕，他們的村莊正在迅速縮小與下沉。

北極永凍土融化的速度快於氣候學家的預測，而釋放出的溫室氣體可能加速全球暖化。永凍土是富含碳的結凍土壤，覆蓋著北半球24%的土地，解凍時會釋放出二氧化碳和甲烷。永凍土解凍會破壞該地區的房屋地基，從而影響人們的生活，且使地貌改變難以辨認方向，還會導致冰窖（自家開鑿的永凍土冰櫃）積水而使糧食變質。

Katie Orlinsky

United States, for National Geographic

Environment 3rd Prize Stories

Children cross a flooded walkway in Newtok, Alaska, on a summer bird hunt. Their village is rapidly sinking and shrinking as a result of thawing permafrost and erosion.

The Arctic permafrost is thawing at a faster rate than climatologists predicted, releasing carbon gases that could speed up global heating. Permafrost is carbon-rich frozen soil that covers 24% of the Northern Hemisphere land mass. As it thaws, it releases carbon dioxide and methane. The thaw impacts people living in the region as it undermines house foundations, makes the landscape more difficult to navigate and causes ice cellars (homemade freezers dug into the permafrost) to flood and provisions to spoil.