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      permafrost

      Melting permafrost

      Scientists Revive 'Zombie' Virus After 50,000 Years Trapped in Siberian Permafrost

      Researchers documented 13 never-before-seen viruses that have been lying dormant, frozen in thick ice, over tens of thousands of years.

      Common Dreams Staff
      Nov 26, 2022

      As our world continues to warm up, vast areas of permafrost are rapidly melting, releasing material that's been trapped for up to a million years. This includes uncountable numbers of microbes that have been lying dormant for hundreds of millennia.

      To study these emerging microbes, scientists from the French National Center for Scientific Research have now revived a number of these "zombie viruses" from the Siberian permafrost, including one thought to be nearly 50,000 years old - a record age for a frozen virus returning to a state capable of infecting other organisms.

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      researchers

      Scientists Find Craters--Including One Bigger Than a City Block--in Arctic Seafloor

      "We know that big changes are happening across the Arctic landscape," said the lead researcher, "but this is the first time we've been able to deploy technology to see that changes are happening offshore too."

      Jessica Corbett
      Mar 16, 2022

      While thawing permafrost on land tied to human-driven global temperature rise has generated worldwide alarm in recent years, a new study out this week is garnering attention for researchers' discoveries underwater.

      "As climate change continues to reshape the Arctic, it's critical that we also understand changes in the submerged permafrost offshore."

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      Firefighters attempt to extinguish a wildfire in the village of Kuel in Yakutia, Sakha, Russia on August 8, 2021

      Record-High Arctic Temperature of 38degC 'More Befitting the Mediterranean,' UN Warns

      "This new Arctic record is one of a series of observations... that sound the alarm bells about our changing climate."

      Kenny Stancil
      Dec 14, 2021

      The World Meteorological Organization on Tuesday confirmed that a new record-high Arctic temperature was set during this summer's devastating Siberian heatwave, when the Russian town of Verkhoyansk hit 38degC, or 100.4degF.

      "The WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes has never had so many ongoing simultaneous investigations."

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