The "high fever" in the Arctic continues, the remains of prehistoric creatures are appearing one after another, and the germs under the ice may awaken
The discovery of dinosaur fossils is no longer unusual for people on earth. However, if the remains of prehistoric creatures are found in glaciers and frozen soil due to the impact of climate change on the ecological environment, it will It won't surprise or worry you at the same time.
The remains of these prehistoric creatures are buried under the ice of the Arctic. How were they discovered by humans? In fact, it’s because the Arctic has a “fever.”
Why does the Arctic continue to have "high fever"? What do the remains of prehistoric creatures gradually revealed due to the Arctic "high fever" indicate? If those ancient germs buried under the ice wake up, what impact will they have on mankind? What other natural disasters have humans encountered due to climate change?
As temperatures in the Arctic become severe and glaciers melt faster, the remains of prehistoric animals slowly emerge as the ice and snow melt, and the bacteria that live deeper may also wake up.
When it comes to the North Pole, it is no exaggeration to describe it as "capped with snow and ice." If conditions permit, flying to the North Pole to escape the heat in the hot summer is really a fascinating pleasure. Today, however, temperatures in the Arctic are rising at alarming levels. Verkhoyansk was previously known as the coldest town in the Northern Hemisphere. However, in June 2020, this small town located in the Siberian Arctic Circle detected the highest temperature in history - 38 degrees Celsius. This undoubtedly sounded the alarm for mankind.
The Arctic region has actually become extremely hot. The occurrence of such unusual extreme weather has attracted great attention from the World Meteorological Organization. The official spokesman of the organization believes that this is due to the background of global warming. of. As the Arctic heats up, first of all, the sea ice has significantly reduced and the snow has melted. Some glacial mountains that were originally covered by ice and snow now expose dark black rocks.
There are also problems with the survival of residents in the Arctic. They can no longer fish and hunt in their original places, and are forced to go to higher and more dangerous places to find food. The reduction of animal resources forced local residents to leave. In addition to the humans who were forced to leave, there were also desperate polar bears.
The abnormal climate in the Arctic has reduced the ice floes in the Arctic Ocean. Polar bears can no longer obtain delicious fish from under the ice floes. Hungry polar bears have begun to migrate away from their original feeding areas. In 2019, in the city of Norilsk in northern Siberia, Russia, people saw a dirty polar bear rummaging for food in domestic garbage. It looked skinny and had dull eyes. It must have been hungry for a long time.
In August 2020, polar bears were discovered hunting reindeer in Svalbard, Norway. Polar bears obviously feed on fish and seals in the ocean, so why do they hunt reindeer on land? The reason is that the ecological environment of the Arctic has been damaged, the number of fish has plummeted, and polar bears who can't find a source of food have no choice but to run to land and hunt weak reindeer.
The WHO issued a warning to humans that the temperature in the Arctic has risen to more than twice the global average. The first to bear the burden are polar bears. Their living space has been sharply reduced. If they continue to be left unchecked, , polar bears may become extinct.
As temperatures rise in the Arctic, polar glaciers melt, and the permafrost in the polar regions also begins to melt. The remains of some prehistoric creatures, together with their well-preserved fur, gradually emerge.
These ancient creatures that are sealed in glaciers and permafrost for tens of millions of years are much more complete than the paleontological fossils formed under geological sediments on land. Most of them remain intact. The posture, outline, fur and internal organs were not seriously damaged. Most of these ancient creatures are mammals, birds, and insects. The period when these ancient creatures lived was the Ice Age 57,000 years ago. In the Arctic during the Ice Age, ancient behemoths such as mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, and giant ground sloths lived.
Archaeologists once discovered a well-preserved woolly rhinoceros in the permafrost of Siberia. This is an Ice Age ancient creature that first appeared in the Pleistocene (more than 2 million years ago). The woolly rhinoceros is a herbivorous animal whose whole body is covered with thick fur. It is still related to the modern Sumatran rhinoceros.
The woolly rhinoceros will use its long and curved rhino horn to push through the thick snow to find turf and plant roots to eat. They were very active in northern Eurasia until the Paleolithic Age when humans existed. It still exists and people love to hunt the woolly rhinoceros for its meat and fur. One might ask whether hunting of woolly rhinos by humans in the past contributed to the extinction of the species.
In fact, the woolly rhinoceros became extinct due to the end of the Ice Age. Studies of the carcass of the woolly rhinoceros found in Siberia found that it was drowned, which is not difficult to think of as a precursor to the collapse of the Ice Age: rising temperatures, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, and animals sinking to the bottom of the sea.
In addition to the discovery of woolly rhinoceros remains, mammoths hidden in the permafrost have also gradually emerged. Some profit-seeking businessmen covet the two huge tusks of mammoths. The search for mammoth tusks has caused greater damage to the Arctic ecology. In fact, apart from ecological damage, no one knows whether this priceless mammoth ivory will carry some ancient germs. If these dormant germs wake up, will they bring unpredictable results?
Imagine that meat placed in the refrigerator can stay fresh, just like the remains of ancient creatures sealed in the frozen soil. If taken outdoors, the meat will rot due to exposure to bacteria in the air. It smells bad, and the remains of ancient creatures in the permafrost are now exposed to the light of the outside world. They will surely stimulate the production of some dormant substances when they come into contact with the outside air and light.
First of all, the corpses will emit a strong smell of animal corpses and exude body fluids, which is an unpleasant smell to the intuitive sense. Secondly, these ancient creatures may have suffered from diseases, may have wound infections, and may carry some ancient bacteria and viruses. As the corpses are exhumed, these germs may also wake up.
In 2016, an anthrax epidemic occurred in the Yamal region of the Arctic, killing more than 2,000 moose. The source of the virus was a carcass that died of anthrax many years ago. This reindeer has been frozen in ice for 75 years, which means that Bacillus anthracis has successfully survived in the glacier for 75 years.
Bacillus anthracis itself is an ancient virus. If the Arctic permafrost continues to thaw in the future, more unknown organisms and possible germs from ancient times will be released. When they invade the human ecological environment, they may bring about Incalculable impact.
Humanity has industrialized rapidly in recent decades, and large amounts of greenhouse gases are emitted from automobile exhaust and produced from the combustion of fossil fuels. Global climate warming is an issue that plagues all mankind. If the climate problem is not properly solved, it will in turn affect mankind and bring about many natural disasters, such as droughts.
Drought has a huge impact on crop yields. For our country, droughts often occur in North and East China, as well as Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan in summer and autumn. The impact of drought on my country's agriculture shows a trend of increasing area and more serious losses. Since the 1950s, my country's agriculture has suffered grain losses of up to 2.5-3 million kilograms due to drought.
Freezing damage is also a typical natural disaster. There are many forms of freezing damage, including frost, cold waves, cold air, accompanied by strong winds, rain and snow. Central China and northwest regions of our country have been severely affected by freeze damage. Freezing damage will cause crop growth delays, frostbite, and affect crop harvests.
Extreme weather causes an increase in pests and diseases. Because of climate change, the impact of pests and diseases will change along latitude. Travel from low latitudes to high latitudes, and from high altitudes to low altitudes. Climate change will also cause disease-infected insects to develop and grow faster and faster, shortening the time it takes to complete one generation in a year. Climate change makes it increasingly difficult to deal with pests and diseases. Experts believe that ecological protection can enable beneficial insects to help humans resist pests and diseases, so ecological protection is everyone's responsibility.
The melting of Arctic glaciers and permafrost has brought new problems. The Arctic ecology is becoming more fragile, and potential bacterial hazards also require attention. Natural disasters are not a little joke played by the earth on human beings. Human beings appear so insignificant in the face of natural disasters. We must have an awareness of ecological crises and mobilize more people to protect the earth's ecology and live green.