MASON NorthLands : A Geospatial Agent-Based Model of Coupled Human-Artificial-Natural Systems in Boreal and Arctic Regions

Current climate change causes significant biophysical effects in the Northern Hemisphere, especially in the Boreal and Arctic regions. Rising and more variable temperatures, permafrost thawing, and snow loading are major hazards affecting human societies on multiple spatial, temporal, and risk-related scales. The MASON NorthLands computational simulation model is motivated by fundamental science and policy research questions. Preliminary results demonstrate causal processes relating ambient and soil temperature increases to measurable social impacts, mediated by biophysical effects of climate change on the built environment, as in a coupled human-artificial-natural system (CHANS).