A footage of the world’s largest permafrost crater, the Batagaika crater, has surfaced which shows the crater, also known as the ‘Gateway to underworld’, thawing amid rising global temperatures.
What is a permafrost?
A permafrost is a ground that remains frozen at 32°F (0°C) or colder for at least two years in a row, as per NASA. It comprises soil, rocks and sand that are held together by ice. The soil and ice in permafrost stay frozen all year long. Permafrost covers vast regions of the Earth. In the Northern Hemisphere, almost a quarter of the land area has permafrost underneath.
Russia warming
As per scientists, Russia has been warming at least 2.5 times faster than other regions of the world. The warming has been melting the long-frozen tundra which covers over 65% of its landmass. The melting in turn has led to the release of greenhouse gases stored in the thawed soil.
As of now, the scientists are not sure of the rate at which the Batagaika crater is growing.
In the video two explorers clamber across uneven terrain at the base of the depression, marked by irregular surfaces and small hummocks, which began to form after the surrounding forest was cleared in the 1960s and the permafrost underground began to melt, causing the land to sink. “We locals call it ‘the cave-in,'” local resident and crater explorer Erel Struchkov told Reuters.
“It developed in the 1970s, first as a ravine. Then by thawing in the heat of sunny days, it started to expand.” The “gateway to the underworld,” as some locals in Russia’s Sakha Republic also call it, has a scientific name: a mega-slump.
Lead researcher at the Melnikov Permafrost Institute in Yakutsk Nikita Tananayev has said that while the slump may attract tourists, its expansion is a “sign of danger”. Tananayev added that in the future, as the temperature increases even more and with higher anthropogenic pressure “we will see more and more of those mega-slumps forming, until all the permafrost is gone”.
Dangers of permafrost thawing
Thawing permafrost has already threatened cities and towns across northern and northeastern Russia, buckling roadways, splitting apart houses, and disrupting pipelines. Vast wildfires, which have become more intense in recent seasons, exacerbate the problem.
Locals in Sakha have taken note of the crater’s rapid growth.
“(Two years ago the edge) was about 20-30 metres away from this path. And now, apparently, it is much closer,” Struchkov said.
Tananayev says the soil beneath the slump, which is about 100 metres deep (328 feet) in some areas, contains an “enormous quantity” of organic carbon that will release into the atmosphere as the permafrost thaws, further fuelling the planet’s warming.
“With an increasing air temperature we can expect (the crater) will be expanding at a higher rate,” he said. “This will lead to more and more climate warming in the following years.”