- Reaction score
- 1,697
There could be something big lurking in the Earth's permafrost.
As the planet continues to warm, scientists fear a host of deadly diseases will be unleashed from the frozen earth, after lying dormant for decades, centuries, and even millennia. The war between Russia and Ukraine has crippled our attempts to prepare ourselves, and the expansion of mining in the polar regions could nudge us even closer to opening this Pandora's Box.
However, most worrying of all, scientists believe our activities are edging us towards an unknown, ancient threat dubbed "Factor X."
The term "permafrost" describes earth that has been frozen for two or more consecutive years. Two years is a minimum, and some areas in Siberia have been frozen for over 650,000.
www.newsweek.com
As the planet continues to warm, scientists fear a host of deadly diseases will be unleashed from the frozen earth, after lying dormant for decades, centuries, and even millennia. The war between Russia and Ukraine has crippled our attempts to prepare ourselves, and the expansion of mining in the polar regions could nudge us even closer to opening this Pandora's Box.
However, most worrying of all, scientists believe our activities are edging us towards an unknown, ancient threat dubbed "Factor X."
The term "permafrost" describes earth that has been frozen for two or more consecutive years. Two years is a minimum, and some areas in Siberia have been frozen for over 650,000.
Scientists fear cataclysmic "Factor X" will emerge from Earth's permafrost
"There must be microbes that were on Earth long before Homo sapiens existed," scientist Birgitta Evengård told Newsweek.
www.newsweek.com
