When it comes to the North Pole, the first thing that comes to our mind is the scene of ice and snow. The Arctic is located in the high latitudes of the earth, and the climate is cold all the year round, and everything is frozen. With the development of modern society, the environment has become more and more bizarre. In recent years, the Arctic Circle has once again experienced a warming phenomenon, and its temperature has reached as high as 30 degrees Celsius, which can be said to have created a record high. As the temperature rises, creatures frozen in the Arctic have been discovered one after another. What's going on?

well-preserved corpse

It is said that there are tens of millions of square kilometers of permafrost in the Arctic region, and some frozen soils are even as thick as 100 meters. What is this permafrost? It refers to soil that has been in a frozen state for a long time. As the temperature rises, the various organisms and bacteria frozen in the permafrost are also stimulated. Just recently, a study published in the authoritative journal "Current Biology" shows that biologists have found corpses 57,000 years ago in the Arctic permafrost, which is the most complete specimen found since the Ice Age. . Scientists found through further research that the carcass was a young wolf less than 7 weeks old. Its basic form: the structure of the body, the skin, the fur, the limbs, the teeth, and even the small nose are well preserved, which is very rare. Although this wolf is very similar to the wild wolf in Eurasia, it has nothing to do with modern wolves because its species is already extinct.

In addition to the discovery of prehistoric animal cubs, people have also discovered the remains of many other animals one after another. For example, in August 2020, scientists found a basic animal along the Telekhtyakh River in the Abisky District of Yakutia. A complete woolly rhino carcass. There are also cave lion cubs, foals, gray wolves and more from 40,000 years ago. Even the long-extinct mammoth has surfaced in the public eye. As a result, people are puzzled that many prehistoric animals have re-emerged. What does this portend to the world?

The intensification of the greenhouse effect

We know that permafrost contains a lot of carbon dioxide, methane and other substances. When cold, these substances are permanently frozen in the soil. When these substances are exposed to high temperatures, it is like a caged wild horse being released. As a result, these greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere to enhance the global greenhouse effect. In turn, the greenhouse effect will accelerate the thawing of permafrost. For example, in Siberia, Russia, people found that many giant earthbags suddenly appeared on the flat ground, and the potholes of these earthbags were basically perfect cones, like funnels. Later research by geologists found that the formation of these soil bags was due to the rise in temperature, which caused the methane in the permafrost to escape. When these methane-containing earth bags are exposed to high temperatures, there is a danger of explosion at any time.

destruction of infrastructure

In the Arctic and Antarctic regions, people are relatively sparsely populated. The North Pole is still more populated than the South Pole. People build a lot of infrastructure, but they are all created on the basis of permafrost. As global temperatures rise, the permafrost in the Arctic is gradually thawing, and as a result, many facilities have been severely destroyed. For example: a diesel fuel tank in Russia, the rise in temperature caused the tank to burst under pressure, so the diesel leaked out, causing serious pollution to people in nearby areas. There are also some roads that have suffered cracks due to thawing of the permafrost.

Virus strikes

Permafrost contains a lot of toxic substances, such as mercury. It will enter the river as the temperature rises, causing the mercury concentration in the surrounding area to increase, affecting the daily drinking water of the people downstream.

In addition to mercury, there are many unknown frozen microorganisms in the Arctic. Due to the rise in temperature, bacteria in microorganisms are stimulated, and some of them are harmless to humans or animals, such as: giant virus Siberian broad-mouthed coronavirus, Siberian mollusk, giant virus Mimi virus, Pandora virus, etc. Harmless viruses have relatively little impact on humans, and the most terrifying ones are viruses that are harmful to humans. For example, scientists have discovered a seal plague virus (PDV) in some mammals. This virus spreads rapidly among various marine organisms, posing a serious threat to the lives of many organisms. Just imagine, if all the harmful viruses in the permafrost are activated, it will have an unimaginable impact on human beings.