Responses of Permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China, to Climate Change and Engineering Construction

Monitoring of permafrost along the Qinghai-Tibet (Xizang) Highway shows that there is a large difference in the response of permafrost to climate change and to engineering construction. The change in cold (<−1.5°C) permafrost is greater than that in warm (≥−1.5°C) permafrost under the effect of climate change, while the cold permafrost is less sensitive to the disturbances from engineering activities. However, warm permafrost is very...