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with climate change unleashing extreme events across the world, a new study warns of possible viruses and antibiotic-resistant bacteria that could be released as the permafrost thaws around polar caps. The rapidly thawing permafrost could even lead to the release of radioactive waste from Cold War nuclear reactors and submarines.

The permanently frozen land (permafrost) covers an area of around 23 million square kilometres in the northern hemisphere, which is up to a million years old. The region houses a diverse range of chemical compounds over millennia whether through natural processes, accidents or deliberate storage apart from microbes.

As the planet heats up due to global warming and climate change, the Arctic is warming up faster than other places around the world and it is estimated that up to two-thirds of the near-surface permafrost could be lost by 2100. This melting of the Arctic will lead to a major dump of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, apart from causing abrupt changes to the landscape.

According to research published in the journal Nature Climate Change, the implications of the vanishing permafrost could be much more widespread than just losing the ice cover. The phenomenon has the potential to release bacteria, unknown viruses, nuclear waste and radiation, and other chemicals of concern.

The Arctic cryosphere is collapsing, posing overlapping environmental risks. In particular, thawing permafrost threatens to release biological, chemical and radioactive materials that have been sequestered for tens to hundreds of thousands of years,” the paper said, adding that they have the potential to disrupt ecosystem function, reduce the populations of unique Arctic wildlife and endanger human health.

The research conducted as part of the ESANasa Arctic Methane and Permafrost Challenge describes how deep permafrost, at a depth of more than three metres, is one of the few environments on Earth that has not been exposed to modern antibiotics. Over 100 diverse microorganisms have been found in Siberia’s deep permafrost which is antibiotic-resistant. However, as the thawing continues there is a risk of these bacteria mixing with meltwater and creating new antibiotic-resistant strains.

Over the last 70 years, more than 1000 settlements, whether resource extraction, military and scientific projects, have been created on permafrost, which is at risk of being polluted and increasing the likelihood of accidental contact or release. The research also raises concerns over the capacity of the Arctic to withstand such natural stress. “We consider the cascading natural and anthropogenic processes that may compound the impacts of these risks, as it is unclear whether the highly adapted Arctic ecosystems have the resilience to withstand new stresses,” the research paper said.

“It’s important to understand the secondary and tertiary impacts of these large-scale Earth changes such as permafrost thaw. While some of the hazards associated with the thaw of up to a million years of material have been captured, we are a long way from being able to model and predict exactly when and where they will happen. This research is critical,” Kimberley Miner of Nasa JPL and lead author of the paper said.

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India today

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