On thin Ice

Õhukesel jääl

Russia. Roughly two thirds of the Arctic belongs to the worlds largest country. Here, Siberia alone has the size of Australia. An enormous chunk of cold land framed by icy seas. Large areas of Northern Russia used to be no-go zones for decades. For the first time, scientists of all over the world are beginning to explore this huge area and what they find is alarming. Gigantic canyons, “megaslumps”, are opening up where used to be endless taiga forest. Enormous layers of permafrost are thawing out and revealing remains of the ancient Siberian megafauna. In the Russian Arctic, climate change is not a question anymore. Its happening, now and there, at a worrying pace. Scientists say, that the tipping point was reached already years ago. Now, Pandora’s box has been opened. The fate of people and wildlife is at stake as is the entire Arctic.