Up to three million people living in Arctic regions are at risk from thawing permafrost due to climate change, a study led by Umeå University has found.

Permafrost underlies about 15% of the northern hemisphere’s land area but has been rapidly degrading in recent decades. Thawing permafrost not only poses a global threat through the release of greenhouse gases, but is also expected to have far-reaching implications for the livelihoods, infrastructure and environment of local inhabitants.

For example, roads built on sensitive permafrost terrains are particularly prone to ground surface deformations and could become unusable with enough melting. Faced with limited budgets and numerous challenges, local stakeholders are concerned about the costs of repeated maintenance, and the difficulty of prioritising and planning for the long term when the ground is changing shape underneath them.

Johanna Scheer, postdoctoral fellow at Umeå University, said: “In Sweden, permafrost lands are important as...