Good morning. I don't know if the War & Peace group would be the correct one for this post... :)
I've read that permafrost (the frozen strata of water and rock beneath the surface of Siberia, northern Canada, etc.) is starting to melt. And this fact implies two things. The first is the liberation via aquifers of unknown bacteria and virus, which where frozen for the last 45 million years. This could mean terrible pandemics for which we don't have any kind of cure.
The other fact is that permafrost is a natural reserve of carbon dioxide and methane. The quantity of CO2 dormant in permafrost duplicate the quantity in the atmosphere. And if permafrost melts due to global warming, part of this carbon dioxide will be liberated, increasing CO2 in the atmosphere, which in turn will raise even more global warming...
I'm very pessimistic about our future on this planet. I think we are close to a tragic end. But we continue with our blind lives, consuming natural resources without a measure, polluting, deforesting...
We have such a beautiful world... And we are wasting it.
Namo Amida Bu
Replies
Thanks, Cay. Certainly appropriate. Yes, the melting of the permafrost creates new dangers that may already be out of control.