Pithovirus sibericum or Pitovirus, contemporary of the Neanderthal man who survived in the ice of Siberia
The world can survive pandemics that are many times more dangerous than the coronavirus. It’s all about climate change, or rather, about global warming. It is already leading to the melting of permafrost – areas of the planet where the temperature of the upper part of the earth’s crust does not rise above 0 ° C for a long time. The depth of the frozen layer sometimes exceeds 1000 meters.
Viruses and bacteria “sleep” inside this natural refrigerator, from which the immune system of people has no protection. But if the ice melts, they “wake up”.
Permafrost occupies about 65% of the territory of Russia. Therefore, it is not surprising that it is our country that is concerned about the awakening of an ancient threat.
Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Chairman of the Committee of Senior Officials in the Arctic Council (a joint body of 8 Arctic states) Nikolai Korchunov said on the air of the Zvezda TV channel that Russia had proposed a project to combat ancient viruses and bacteria. In his opinion, the awakening of microbes trapped in the permafrost for tens of thousands of years is almost inevitable. Therefore, it is necessary to study the risks and possible consequences associated with the re-emergence of diseases that may have been frozen since the last ice age.
Korchunov said that the tasks of the project will include an assessment of the “risks and dangers” associated with the “degradation of permafrost” and “future infectious diseases.”
Already, the permafrost is melting, exposing animal remains and objects that have been frozen for thousands of years. For example, in recent years, bodies of woolly rhinoceroses, extinct about 14,000 years ago, and a 40,000-year-old wolf head – so beautifully preserved that they still had hair – have been discovered.
Melting permafrost even spawned an entire semi-criminal industry for the extraction and sale of the remains of extinct animals. First of all – mammoths. Hunters go in search of their skeletons in order to sell the tusks. Finds of well-preserved remains have also raised fears that the diseases that the animals might carry could be transmitted by the same tusk hunters.
According to the Daily Mail, Jean Michel Claverie, a virologist at the University of Aix-Marseille, last year reported “overwhelmingly convincing” evidence that “you can revive bacteria from deep permafrost.”
Professor Claveri even discovered the Pitovirus himself, which survived in the permafrost, and after defrosting began to attack and kill amoebas. Although the Pitovirus, which had been frozen for about 30,000 years prior to the experiment, is harmless to humans, this suggests that long-frozen viruses can wake up and re-infect living things, Claveri said.
Scientists disagree about the exact age of the Arctic ice cap, the permafrost that surrounds it, and therefore the age of the objects it contains.
But most of the unfrozen finds so far discovered date from the last ice age, roughly 115,000-11,700 years ago.
Scientists also warn that melting permafrost poses an even greater threat than unknown diseases due to the release of carbon dioxide and methane, as the organic matter trapped in it thaws and begins to rot. Both gases contribute to global warming, which in turn stimulates melting. There is a vicious circle where one process accelerates another. If this chain reaction reaches a certain scale, then warming will accelerate at times, which will cause irreparable damage to the world as we know it.
Melting also poses a threat to Russian infrastructure and cities that have been built in permafrost regions. Ground movement can destroy both buildings and all underground utilities – for example, water pipes. This is already happening: last year, the cause of a large-scale oil spill in the Arctic Circle was called the melting of permafrost – a tank with diesel fuel was damaged due to the fact that the earth around it subsided.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also said that the melting of permafrost could cause irreparable damage to biodiversity and adversely affect the economy and infrastructure, create direct risks for people. “If about 25% of the near-surface layers of permafrost (this is 3-4 meters) melt by 2100, then we will feel it very much for ourselves,” Putin stressed.
Source: Rosbalt
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
