Melting of Permafrost May Release Not Only Ancient Bacteria but More Recent Burials of Dangerous Chemicals

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Apr. 9 – The melting of permafrost in the north as a result of global climate change is attracting most attention because of the ways in which it can undermine human construction there of cities, pipelines, highways and rail lines. But that is likely to be the least of the problems it will cause.

            Instead, as researchers have documented, the melting of the permafrost will release into the atmosphere bacteria and viruses that could kill large swaths of the earth’s population (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2022/12/melting-of-permafrost-in-russian-north.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-ice-will-melt-and-we-will-all-die.html).

            In addition and especially in the Russian Federation, global warming is going to release into the atmosphere dangerous industrial pollutants that were inadequately buried in Soviet times and will now circulate far more broadly (thebarentsobserver.com/ru/klimaticheskiy-krizis/2023/04/uchenye-tayanie-vechnoy-merzloty-mozhet-privesti-k-vybrosam).

            And both problems appear likely to be exacerbated by what appears to be Moscow’s commitment to rolling back already low environmental protection standards in the Arctic in order to save the government money for its war in Ukraine and boost economic activity (thebarentsobserver.com/ru/klimaticheskiy-krizis/2023/04/v-rossiyskoy-arktike-mogut-snizit-ekologicheskie-trebovaniya).

            That conclusion is strongly suggested, The Barents Observer says, by the provisions in two new Kremlin policy documents, its updated Arctic Policy paper (kremlin.ru/acts/news/70570) and its latest version of the Russian Foreign Policy Concept (kremlin.ru/acts/news/70811).