Siberian permafrost thawing

Siberian permafrost thawing

In the Siberian region of Russia, permafrost is thawing rapidly due to climate change. Subsidence is evident around Yakutsk and Norilsk, where a Norilsk Nickel Company oil storage tank collapsed, spilling approximately 21,000 tons of diesel fuel into the Ambarnaya River in 2020. This incident illustrates the severe impact of permafrost thawing on infrastructure. Permafrost also traps about 1,400 gigatons of carbon, and the release of methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) accelerates global warming: in 2019, the average temperature across Siberia was 5°C above normal, 150,000 square kilometers of forest were burned, and about 350 million tons of CO₂ equivalent were released emissions. Furthermore, as of 2024, the Batagayka Crater is expanding at a rate of about 1 million cubic meters per year, releasing large amounts of methane. This phenomenon is emblematic of climate change in the Arctic and requires global countermeasures.