France 24: Russian Siberia fell into a vicious circle of irreversible consequences

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Forest fires in Siberia in 2019, view from space

At the end of May, 21 thousand tons of diesel fuel spilled into the rivers of the Arctic part of Siberia. This was, according to scientists, the result of a vicious circle of changes in the Siberian climate. What is happening there affects the ecological situation of the entire planet. It is reported by France 24.

The owner of a thermal power plant near Norilsk, where the release occurred, blames the melting of permafrost. It, in turn, is the result of an increase in temperature caused by global warming. However, it itself can lead to accelerated climate change.



The permafrost contains a huge amount of carbon - about twice as much as today in the atmosphere. This carbon is frozen, protected, blocked. If permafrost thaws, carbon will be released into the air in the form of greenhouse gases - CO2 and methane. This will accelerate global warming, which will further unfreeze permafrost. All this will create a loop of irreversible consequences.

- said Antoine Sejourne, a geomorphologist at the Université Paris Saclay.

The negative effects of global warming are already visible in Siberia for several years. In particular, warm winters and mild spring cause numerous forest fires. The forest occupies those places where it was not there before due to low temperatures. Now, when it is getting warmer, there is more vegetation, however, the number of forest fires is also growing. Due to fires, the ability of boreal forests to absorb carbon dioxide and methane decreases, which further increases their concentration in the atmosphere.

Warming also contributes to the spread of invasive species of insects (that is, introduced by humans and expanded in new regions). One of them is Dendrolimus sibiricus - a silkworm capable of producing offspring that absorbs the leaves of a giant pine tree in a few hours.

What is happening in Siberia applies to all of us. If there are places that thaw and where carbon is released, temperatures are rising all over the world. A rise in temperature means an increase in the melting of glaciers and polar ice caps in Antarctica and in Greenland, which leads to a rise in sea level

- added Antoine Sejourne.
8 comments
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  1. T. Hanks
    T. Hanks
    -2
    17 June 2020 18: 45
    So carbon or carbon dioxide? Does methane have carbon? Maybe carbon pencils emit? And do not understand who is dumb and dumber. The scientist, however.
    1. Kristallovich
      Kristallovich
      +1
      17 June 2020 19: 00
      So carbon or carbon dioxide?

      Is carbon dioxide not carbon?
      1. T. Hanks
        T. Hanks
        0
        17 June 2020 22: 33
        CO2 carbon dioxide, C carbon.
        1. Kristallovich
          Kristallovich
          +1
          17 June 2020 22: 41
          Carbon dioxide. There is no contradiction in the article.
  2. alexandrmakedo
    alexandrmakedo
    +1
    17 June 2020 20: 10
    Quote: T. Henks
    So carbon or carbon dioxide? Does methane have carbon? Maybe carbon pencils emit? And do not understand who is dumb and dumber. The scientist, however.

    Do not quibble. Here the terminology, which is not familiar to us, is to blame, and the translation of the article.
    For some reason, this fruit does not believe that nature has the ability to self-regulate. And in vain. Forests will burn down - new ones will receive clean territories, freed from that very silkworm and the rotting surface of the earth, infecting with unprecedented quantities of insects and all kinds of pests. Nature has lived and changed for billions of years, but within the framework of stability. Let these "scientists" argue what is ahead of us - warming or a new glacial one. Theses, bastards, have spawned, intimidating everyone and everything.
    1. Grigory Lugovoi
      Grigory Lugovoi
      0
      18 June 2020 13: 12
      Excuse me, but do you really consider a natural process a 1000-fold increase in emissions from decades of human activity - factories, power plants, industrial enterprises, automobiles? Oh well...

      The ability to self-regulation in nature, of course, is. But a drop of unbalanced nicotine in the horse’s blood kills the horse. So you, on thinking, at the weekend the information ...
  3. alexandrmakedo
    alexandrmakedo
    +2
    18 June 2020 13: 37
    Quote: Gregory Lugovoi
    Excuse me, but do you really consider a natural process a 1000-fold increase in emissions from decades of human activity - factories, power plants, industrial enterprises, automobiles? Oh well...

    The ability to self-regulation in nature, of course, is. but a drop of unbalanced nicotine in the horse’s blood kills the horse. so, you, at the weekend think about the information ...

    If you ate only one chicken last year, and this year - two, then this is an increase of 200%. Or twice. To evaluate something, it is important to operate not with relative numbers, but also with absolute ones. Let's agree - 1000 times, but write here MUCH. Next is the total volume of the atmosphere. Further, a fraction of carbon dioxide with its content of 0,03%. Next - its absorption by vegetation and .... Further - the allocation of natural sources - swamps, vegetation, volcanoes, the water surface.
    See, this is VERY complicated - an assessment. Then, if you can’t do it, maybe it’s one-sided and you won’t write at all?
    A drop of nicotine. The emanation of plutonium 298 is more toxic than cobra poison by 50 thousand times. And in nature its hundreds of tons.
    If we compare the mass of bacteria that inhabit the surface of the planet with the mass of humanity, then we will lose with a crushing score in the ratio of millions of times. So, all human activity is a microdose of what powerful nature does. The defeat of the landscape in a limited area - yes, it is in human capabilities. And then, for a while.

    https://s7.lordfilm.org/150-film-zemlja-zhizn-bez-ljudej-2008.html

    See how quickly nature erases the traces of a person's stay on Earth.
    1. alexandrmakedo
      alexandrmakedo
      +1
      18 June 2020 13: 54
      I apologize. Plutonium 239.