siberia

Dangers Of Thawing Permafrost | Earth Wise

April 12, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The thawing of the permafrost in the Arctic is a major concern from the standpoint of the potential release of enormous amounts of carbon dioxide trapped in it. There are nearly 2,000 billion tons of carbon there, which is as much as humanity releases into the atmosphere in 50 years. But greenhouse gases are not the only danger posed by permafrost thawing. There are also microbes, unknown viruses, and chemicals that could be very dangerous.

More than 100 diverse microorganisms in Siberia’s deep permafrost have been found to be antibiotic resistant. The deep permafrost is one of the few environments on Earth that have not been exposed to modern antibiotics. As the permafrost thaws, its bacteria could mix with meltwater and create new antibiotic-resistant strains.

By-products of fossil fuels – introduced into permafrost environments since the beginning of the industrial revolution – are present. Metal deposits including arsenic, mercury, and nickel, have been mined for decades and have contaminated large areas.

Now-banned pollutants and chemicals – including DDT – came to the Arctic through the atmosphere and over time have become trapped in the permafrost.

There is now ongoing research further characterizing the microbes frozen in permafrost and providing more precise measurement of emissions hotspots in permafrost regions. Scientists are increasingly turning to integrated Earth observations from the ground, the air, and space.

There are models that predict the gradual release of emissions from permafrost over the next century. Other models say it could happen within just a few years. The worst-case scenario would be utterly catastrophic but none of the scenarios portend anything good.

**********

Web Links

Thawing Permafrost Could Leach Microbes, Chemicals Into Environment

Photo, posted February 9, 2017, courtesy of Benjamin Jones/USGS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Hot Year With Record GHG Levels | Earth Wise

February 25, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Last year was a year that saw rising temperatures and rising levels of greenhouse gases. 2021 was the fifth-hottest year on record. The average global temperature was nearly 1.2 degrees Celsius or 2.1 Fahrenheit degrees higher than the preindustrial average. The past seven years were the hottest ever by a significant margin.

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached 414 parts per million, compared with preindustrial levels of 280 parts per million. Concentrations of methane reached 1876 parts per billion, the highest levels ever recorded.

Apart from these global measurements, local and regional weather saw the effects of the heating planet. Extreme temperatures were common with the hottest summer in Europe, heatwaves in the Mediterranean, and unprecedented high temperatures in North America.

The West Coast of the US, northeast Canada, Greenland, and parts of north Africa and the Middle East all experienced the highest above-average temperatures. However, some places, including Australia, Antarctica, Siberia, and much of the Pacific Ocean often saw below-average temperatures, even though the same places occasionally experienced record high temperatures.

The Covid-19 pandemic and its economic disruptions continued to lead to some reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, but in the US, emissions from energy use and industry nonetheless grew 6.2% in 2021 after falling more than 10% in 2020.

Carbon dioxide and methane concentrations are continuing to increase each year and don’t appear to be slowing down. As long as this situation persists, global temperatures will continue to rise, and extreme and erratic weather will be more and more commonplace.

**********

Web Links

2021 Rated One of the Hottest Years Ever as CO2 Levels Hit Record High

Photo, posted November 11, 2011, courtesy of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Record Heat Across the Globe | Earth Wise

August 4, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

While the Pacific Northwest was setting new records for high temperatures in June, many other places across the globe also experienced unprecedented heat. Places in Russia and Scandinavia, including locations above the Arctic Circle, set new records for temperature.

The heatwave in Europe was the result of a persistent northward bulge in the polar jet stream. This blocking pattern in the jet stream has been prevalent over Scandinavia this year and has contributed to unusually warm conditions there. Further east, similar conditions have created unusual warm temperatures in Siberia.

On June 23, Moscow reached a high of 94.6 degrees, the hottest June temperature on record. Helsinki, Finland set a record at 89.1 degrees, and both Belarus at 96.3 degrees and Estonia at 94.3 degrees set new records. The town of Saskylah, north of the Arctic Circle in Siberia, measured almost 90 degrees on June 20.

High temperature records have been broken in many places. The all-time record high for June for all of Mexico fell at Mexicali in Baja California on June 17 when the temperature reached 125 degrees. Palm Springs, California, while known for its desert heat, nonetheless set a new all-time high temperature of 123 degrees and also set a new record for the warmest overnight low temperature for a June night anywhere in North America at an unbelievable 105 degrees.

Stories like this have become all-too common in recent years and are undoubtedly going to occur with greater frequency as the world’s climate continues to react to the growing buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

**********

Web Links

A Scorcher in Siberia and Europe

Photo, posted June 8, 2007, courtesy of Niko Pettersen via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Arctic Methane Starting To Release | Earth Wise

November 24, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

An international team of researchers has found evidence that frozen methane deposits in the Arctic Ocean have started to be released over a large area of the continental slope off the East Siberian coast. High levels of methane have been detected down to a depth of 1,100 feet in the Laptev Sea near Russia.

The slope sediments in the Arctic contain huge quantities of methane and other gases, known as hydrates. Methane has a warming effect 80 times stronger than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. The US Geological Survey has identified Arctic hydrate destabilization as one of the four most serious scenarios for abrupt climate change.

The research team aboard a Russian ship said that most of the bubbles they observed coming up from the sea bottom were dissolving in the water, but that methane levels at the surface were four to eight times what would normally be expected.

Frozen methane deposits have been called the “sleeping giants of the carbon cycle.” If these deposit releases were to reach a high enough level, it would be a tipping point that could greatly increase the speed of global warming. With Arctic temperatures now rising more than twice as fast as the global average, the likelihood of a significant release of the frozen methane grows greater all the time.

Temperatures in Siberia were 9 degrees Fahrenheit higher than average from January to June this year. Last winter’s sea ice melted unusually early. This winter’s freeze has yet to begin, which is already a later start than any time on record.

These new discharges of methane are larger than anything found before and are a very worrisome occurrence.

**********

Web Links

Arctic methane deposits ‘starting to release’, scientists say

Photo, posted September 26, 2014, courtesy of the Office of Naval Research via Flickr. Photo credit: U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams/Released.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Arctic Northeast Passage May Open | Earth Wise

November 12, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Northwest Passage is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean. It goes along the northern coast of North America, traveling though the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. In the past, it was the domain of intrepid explorers like Roald Amundsen. Because of the receding ice in the Arctic, in recent years it has become possible to travel the Northwest Passage by cruise ship.

The Northeast Passage connects the same two oceans along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Siberia. The sustained loss of sea ice is now leading to accessibility of Arctic sea passages through this route.

Compared with the customary route through the Strait of Malacca in Malaysia and the Suez Canal, using the Northeast Passage could reduce the travel distance between Europe and northwest Asia by one-third. This would reduce the expense of transportation and lower environmental pollution. Many Asian countries have a strong strategic and economic interest in Arctic shipping. Russia would gain strong competitive advantages for its liquified natural gas industry.

According to a recent study at the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the continuing warming of the Arctic seas is likely to result in the Northeast Passage being navigable for open water ships by next year and will continue to be increasingly hospitable to marine traffic.

The economic and strategic benefits to the opening of the Northeast Passage are quite clear. What is also clear is that the underlying cause of the opening of the passage – the dramatic loss of Arctic sea ice – is not beneficial to the world at all and is a harbinger of troubling things in our future.

**********

Web Links

Arctic Northeast Passage may be Navigable in Near Future

Photo, posted September 24, 2005, courtesy of Paul Downey via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Alaska Is Getting Wetter | Earth Wise

August 31, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Siberia has been in the news for record-setting heat waves and wildfires, but it is not the only northern region experiencing unusual weather. Alaska, apart from setting its own warm weather records, is experiencing the rainiest five years in its century-long meteorological record.

Extreme weather in the Arctic is being driven by an aspect of climate change called Arctic amplification, which leads to temperatures rising faster than the global average. The physical basis of Arctic amplification is well understood, but its effects over time are much less predictable.

The past five years included two summers with average precipitation, one that was a little drier than usual, and two of the wettest summers on record. Researchers have taken measurements of how far below the surface permafrost has thawed by the end of summer over a wide range of Alaskan environments.

About 85% of Alaska sits upon permafrost and the increasing rainfall over the past five years is leading to a deeper thaw of permafrost across the state. The wettest summer on record was 2014 and permafrost didn’t freeze back to previous levels even when the next couple of summers were relatively drier.

The study demonstrated how different types of land cover govern relationships between summer rainfall and permafrost thaw. As Alaska becomes warmer and wetter, the vegetation cover is projected to change, and the increasing occurrence of wildfires will disturb larger areas of the landscape. These conditions are likely to lead to a feedback loop driving more and more permafrost thawing.

Fundamental changes to Alaskan ecosystems are occurring on an unprecedented timescale – not gradually over decades or lifetimes, but over mere months or years.

**********

Web Links

Alaska is getting wetter. That’s bad news for permafrost and the climate.

Photo, posted June 10, 2011, courtesy of Peter Rintels via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Record Siberian Heat | Earth Wise

July 24, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Siberia has been experiencing unprecedented high temperatures in recent months. May was the hottest May on record and temperatures in Siberia have stayed well above average for the past year.

On June 20, temperatures in the small Siberian town of Verkhoyansk hit 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, which is a record-high temperature in one of the fastest-warming places in the world. Average high temperatures in June reach 68 degrees. Verkhoyansk sits on the Yana River in the Arctic Circle and, during the winter, is one of the world’s coldest towns. In 1892, its temperature dropped to -90 degrees Fahrenheit. And now there is hundred-degree heat above the Arctic Circle.

Siberia tends to experience large temperature swings month-to-month and year-to year. But it is very unusual for temperatures to stay well over average over an extended period of time as they have for the past year. According to climate scientists, the kind of temperature swings seen recently would only happen once in 100,000 years if it were not for climate change.

Siberia has seen raging wildfires and structural damage from thawing permafrost as its temperatures have stayed warmer than normal. The prolonged Siberian heatwave is an alarming situation.

The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the Earth because of a process known as Arctic amplification. The acceleration of the Arctic ice melt leads to a seasonal snow cover that isn’t as white. It therefore absorbs more sunlight, which then leads to more warming.

The amplified warming of the Arctic with its increased melting of ice leads to higher sea levels, and not just in the Arctic Ocean. With less Arctic ice to reflect sunlight, the world’s oceans continue to warm.

**********

Web Links

Temperatures in an Arctic Siberian town hit 100 degrees, a new high

Photo, posted December 7, 2014, courtesy of Olga Dudenko via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Hottest Month Ever

August 27, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

European climate researchers announced that July was the hottest July ever recorded and since July is generally the hottest month of the year, it was indeed the hottest month ever recorded. It just barely beat out the previous record set in July 2016. There are multiple agencies that track temperatures around the world, and it is possible that some of them may report slightly different results.

But whatever July’s ultimate ranking is, it is part of a long-term trend. The past five years have been the hottest on record. The 10 hottest years ever recorded have all occurred during the past twenty years.

This June was also the warmest on record, and the previous five months were all among the four warmest for their respective months. All of that puts this year on track to be in the top five warmest years, or perhaps the hottest ever.

The highest above-average conditions were recorded across Alaska, Greenland, and large areas of Siberia. Large parts of Africa and Australia were warmer than normal, as was much of central Asia. New temperature records were set in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany with temperatures over 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Great Britain saw an all-time record of 101.7 degrees and Anchorage, Alaska stayed above 79 degrees for a record six days in a row.

Wildfires have raged across the Russian Arctic, India has suffered heatwaves and severe water shortages, and Japan saw more than 5,000 people seek hospital treatment during a heatwave.

While scientists cannot directly link any particular heatwave to climate change, the trend for new heat records is likely to continue and accelerate unless we do something about curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

**********

Web Links

How Hot Was July? Hotter Than Ever, Global Data Shows

Photo, posted May 25, 2019, courtesy of Jakob Montrasio via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Defusing The Methane Time Bomb

March 26, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Permafrost is defined as soil that remains frozen for two or more consecutive years. It is generally composed of rock, soil, sediments, and varying amounts of ice that binds it all together. The permafrost of the Arctic represents one of the largest reservoirs of organic carbon in the world. It covers vast regions of Siberia, northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland.

When permafrost thaws, microbes in the previously-frozen soil go to work digesting organic materials and release carbon dioxide and methane, both of which are greenhouse gases. Methane is 25 times more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, so it represents the greater threat. The massive amounts of methane that could be released by thawing permafrost have been described as a ticking time bomb threatening the world’s climate. Unfortunately, the permafrost in the Arctic is already starting to thaw as a result of climate change.

A new study by researchers at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis looked into the prospects for neutralizing the threat posed by the release of methane from thawing permafrost. They analyzed the relative contributions of potential methane emissions from the permafrost and existing ones from human activities. Human-caused methane emissions from fossil fuel activities, waste dumps, and livestock constitute a major source of the gas.

Their conclusion is that if we can greatly reduce human-generated methane release, the effects of uncontrolled Arctic methane emissions could be mitigated. It is unclear whether we can do much to stave off the Arctic methane release at this point, but the release of methane from human activities is something we can do something about. But the clock is ticking.

**********