With the planet already 1.2C warmer than pre-industrial times, scientists are predicting the Arctic could be ice-free in summers by 2030s.
Concerns that the hotter climate will release trapped greenhouse gases like methane into the atmosphere as the region’s permafrost melts have been well-documented, but dormant pathogens are a lesser explored danger.
Last year research showing they’d extracted multiple ancient viruses from the Siberian permafrost, all of which remained infectious.
Ways in which this could present a threat are still emerging.
A heat wave in Siberia in the summer of 2016 activated anthrax spores, leading to dozens of infections, killing a child and thousands of reindeer. In July this year, a separate team of scientists published findings showing that even multicellular organisms could survive permafrost conditions in an inactive metabolic state, called cryptobiosis. They successfully reanimated a 46,000-year-old roundworm from the Siberian permafrost, just by re-hydrating it.
Dr. Claverie, a leading virologist said in an interview at his laboratory in the Luminy campus of Aix-Marseille University, France, referring to the spread of vector borne diseases from warmer tropical regions.
“Now, we realize there might be some danger coming from the north as the permafrost thaws and frees microbes, bacteria and viruses.”
Just imagine a virus emerging that Man hasn't been exposed to for millions of years.
A super-dooper measles for instance.
It is coming and that is pretty much certain.
It could make Covid look like the sniffles.
Make sure to wash your hands.