Hotmail  |  Gmail  |  Yahoo  |  Justice Mail
powered by Google
WWW http://www.JusticeForNorthCaucasus.com

Add JFNC Google Bar Button to your Browser Google Bar Group  
 
 
Welcome To Justice For North Caucasus Group

Log in to your account at Justice For North Caucasus eMail system.

Request your eMail address

eMaill a Friend About This Site.

Google Translation

 

 

Window on Eurasia: ‘Melting of Permafrost is Converting Much of Russia into a Swamp’

posted by eagle on August, 2013 as ANALYSIS / OPINION


Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Window on Eurasia: ‘Melting of Permafrost is Converting Much of Russia into a Swamp’


Paul Goble

                Staunton, August 7 – Two-thirds of the territory of the Russian Federation is covered by permafrost, and the melting of this ice is rapidly "converting a large part of Russia into a swamp,” according to studies by British and Russian scholars reported and discussed this week in Moscow’s "Novyye izvestiya.”

            Researchers at the University of Cambridge, Veronika Vorontsova and Mariya Vasilchenko note, predict that the permafrost will according to their models melt away sometime between 2020 and 2050, but "already now,” the permafrost has disappeared in many places in northern Russia (newizv.ru/society/2013-08-06/186801-ona-rastajala.html).

            With its loss, the ground under many buildings and other infrastructure has become gelatinous putting human construction above it at risk.  Many people can no longer live in houses because the foundations are collapsing, and the entire city of Dudinka in Krasnoyarsk Kray may "cease to exist” as a result.

            According to Russian scholars working in Yakutsk, Vorontsova and Vasilchenko say, permafrost which now underlies 69 percent of Russian territory is melting everywhere. But the process is not even, and some places, such as the northern part of the Yenisey River basin, have already become swamps.

            The melting of the permafrost is the result of global warming, itself the product of the release of greenhouse gases. But even if those were stopped now, something unlikely to happen, the investigators suggest, the melting of the permafrost would continue for another two decades by inertia.

            Vladislav Bolov, the head of the Emergency Situations Ministry Center for Predictions and Monitoring, says that over the next 25 years, the area in Russia now covered by permafrost will decline by 10 to 18 percent, and by mid-century, the permafrost region will decline by almost a third.

            The effects of this "will be destructive,” Bolov says, "especially in regard to automobile and railroads build across permafrost regions.”  Many roads in the region are already impassable or at best have to be constantly repaired.  And the situation will only get worse as the permafrost foundations melt away.

            Already, "up to 40 percent of the infrastructure of population points built earlier in permafrost regions” in Russia are at risk of collapse, according to Igor Chestin, the director of the World Wildlife Fund’s Russian section.  And more than 5,000 kilometers of railway track are also at risk, with some near Baikal already requiring slower speeds or intensive reconstruction. 

But in addition to these highly visible problems, there is another which may prove even more disturbing.  According to Natalaya Ryazanova, a climatologist, there is great risk that bacteria long trapped in the ice may now escape and infect people who lack any resistance to it. Moreover, she says, the release of certain gases is already harming residents.

Scholars overwhelmingly say, the two journalists continue, that the melting away of the permafrost is "an irreversible process” to which human beings must learn to adapt themselves. But in Russia as in the West, there are some researchers who question the urgency of this issue and suggest that the world has time to do so more easily.

Mikhail Grigoryev, a permafrost specialist in Yakutsk, says that global warming has been slowing over recent years and that its impact on permafrost now is not as great as it was only six or seven years ago.  But even he acknowledges that no one can predict either weather anomalies or prevent much of Russia from becoming a swamp as ever more of the permafrost disappears.


comments (0)


1 - 1 of 1

Post comment

Your name*

Email address*

Url

Comments*

Verification code*







 RSS FEED


New Posts



Search Analysis Opinion



ANALYSIS / OPINION



Archive


 december 2013

 november 2013

 october 2013

 september 2013

 august 2013

 july 2013

 june 2013

 may 2013

 april 2013

 march 2013

 february 2013

 december 2012

 august 2012

 july 2012

 april 2012

 march 2012

 february 2012

 july 2011

 june 2011

 may 2011

 april 2011

 march 2011

 february 2011

 january 2011

 december 2010

 november 2010

 october 2010

 september 2010

 august 2010

 july 2010

 june 2010

 may 2010

 april 2010

 march 2010

 february 2010

 january 2010

 december 2009

 november 2009

 october 2009

 september 2009

 august 2009

 july 2009

 june 2009

 may 2009

 april 2009

 march 2009

 february 2009

 january 2009

 december 2008

 november 2008

 october 2008

 august 2008

 july 2008

 may 2008

 february 2008

 december 2007

 november 2007

 october 2007

 september 2007

 august 2007

 july 2007

 june 2007

 may 2007

 april 2007

 march 2007

 february 2007

 january 2007

 december 2006

 november 2006

 october 2006

 september 2006

 august 2006

 july 2006

 june 2006

 may 2006

 april 2006

 march 2006

 february 2006

 january 2006

 december 2005

 november 2005

 october 2005

 september 2005

 august 2005

 july 2005

 june 2005

 may 2005

 april 2005

 april 2000

 february 2000



Acknowledgement: All available information and documents in "Justice For North Caucasus Group" is provided for the "fair use". There should be no intention for ill-usage of any sort of any published item for commercial purposes and in any way or form. JFNC is a nonprofit group and has no intentions for the distribution of information for commercial or advantageous gain. At the same time consideration is ascertained that all different visions, beliefs, presentations and opinions will be presented to visitors and readers of all message boards of this site. Providing, furnishing, posting and publishing the information of all sources is considered a right to freedom of opinion, speech, expression, and information while at the same time does not necessarily reflect, represent, constitute, or comprise the stand or the opinion of this group. If you have any concerns contact us directly at: eagle@JusticeForNorthCaucasus.com


Page Last Updated: {Site best Viewed in MS-IE 1024x768 or Greater}Copyright © 2005-2009 by Justice For North Caucasus ®