A Russian geophysicist and his son are fighting global warming at the end of the world. Their project is radical: to recreate an ecosystem as close as possible to that of the Pleistocene – the Ice Age – to prevent the permafrost from melting. In the frozen subsoil of Siberia, a climatic bomb has been set off. Sergei and Nikita Zimov try to neutralize it.The ice in Siberia contains microbes that once thawed could tilt the world climate beyond our control.Beyond the Arctic Circle, in the heart of northern Siberia, Russian scientist Sergey Zimov has created Pleistocene Park – to reconstitute the ecosystem of the Ice Age by reintroducing large herbivore species into the former Mammoth steppe, where the soil had become severely depleted. Restoring these ecosystems could also help halt the thawing of the permafrost, a gigantic layer of glacial ice that traps billions of tons of organic carbon. As it melts, the microbes that dwell here quickly convert formerly frozen organic matter into carbon dioxide and methane. The release of these greenhouse gases as a result of climate change is a threat that has long been ignored.
Sergey Zimov: “Thawing permafrost is a direct threat to the climate”
With Arctic permafrost thawing too quickly, scientists in Siberia are considering drastic measures. See this week’s full 60 Minutes interview with George Church, here: https://cbsn.ws/34ZhuTs
