More disturbing news regarding the changes from human caused global warming occurring in the arctic regions of Siberia. The Siberian Times reports that over 200 lakes have been identified in the thermokarst landscape of Siberia that are bubbling methane.
This landscape is full of water from thawing permafrost consisting mainly of marshes. It is also full of craters called pingos, trembling earth and lakes. The permafrost soil consists of vast amounts of organic material such as plants and the rotting carcasses of mammoth, horse and other ancient plains species. Once the permafrost thaws, the soil decomposes and releases into the atmosphere the greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and methane. These greenhouse gases heat the earth which causes even more warming, which in turn releases even more gases from the permafrost in a vicious cycle called a feedback loop.
Al Jazeera reports on the local impact of the thawing permafrost such as the loss of the lakes as water sources for rural and urban people:
Courtney Price, of the Arctic Council's Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna organisation, said continued thawing of permafrost is one factor endangering thermokarst lakes. These lakes are formed by the thawing of permafrost and accumulation of surface water in the depression.
But if permafrost continues to thaw, there is no structure to hold the water, and the lakes can drain completely, Price said.
"Thermokarst lakes act as 'hot spots' of biological activity in northern regions… Such biologically productive systems are important to Arctic peoples for supporting traditional lifestyles, and for providing water to rural/urban communities and development, especially where groundwater resources are unavailable," she explained.
The phenomenon also affects public safety: Around 70 percent of the world's permafrost is found in Russia, and in Siberia, entire cities, of which Yakutsk is the largest, are built on permafrost. When permafrost thaws, buildings can tilt and become uninhabitable.
Some excerpts from the picture heavy Siberian Times piece on the bubbling lake discoveries.
A feature of these thermokarst lakes are craters or funnels in the sediment on the floor through which they are haemorrhaging methane. These pockmarks are similar to those found on the floors of the great oceans.
Scientists say these leaks are year round in lakes where carbon processing and methane emission occur even at temperatures close to zero degrees Celcius. Detailed study of satellite data from 2015-16 has identified more than 200 lakes which are seen as an active source of methane emissions.
The gas is of both a biochemical nature, the result of microbial activity released by permafrost thawing, and catagenesis, formed in deep ground layers.
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Professor Vasily Bogoyavlensky, deputy director of the Moscow-based Oil and Gas Research Institute, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said: 'These lakes have a number of features, which can help identify them from a distance: the anomalous blue colour of water, the presence of craters on the bottom and gas seeps in the water, the traces of gas in the seasonal ice cover, as well as active coastal erosion and permafrost swelling near the water's edge.'
The sulphur in the gas leaks results in algae flourishing in these Arctic waters, which give the lakes their distinctive hue. He warned that 'many of the sites with gas emissions are located close to the territory of oil and gas deposits'
I admit it. I am terrified of what is happening in our polar regions. It is impossible to not feel despair. I am beyond furious that the fossil fuel industry controls the levers of power in this country enabling them to kill off our biosphere for greed. Despite all the evidence that fossil fuel emissions are the reason that our globe is heating, this regime seems determined to delay, and roll back the world’s efforts in the climate change fight.
There is action that we can take though. We can resist.
Scientists will march on April 22, 2017.
The Peoples Climate March will be on April 29th, 2017.
Both of the above events will be held in Washington DC. For local action, contact Indivisible and find a protest and march near you.
We need to find a way to shame the media into covering this action. They ignored the historic 2014 Climate March, we can’t let them do that again.