Kieran Cooke – Anthrax strikes in rapidly thawing Arctic

Record high temperatures in Arctic Russia are believed to be one of the main factors behind the emergence of the deadly anthrax disease in northwestern Siberia. LONDON, 15 August, 2016 – A full-scale medical emergency has broken out in the Yamal region of Siberia, with troops from the Russian army’s special biological warfare unit spearheading efforts to contain an outbreak of anthrax. A 12-year-old …

Methane-Explosion Craters Could Be Latest Indicators of a Warming Planet

Numerous newly discovered massive craters across Siberia—believed to have been formed by methane gas exploding through a thawing permafrost—may be the latest visible signs that climate change is here, and it’s changing the very contours of the earth’s surface. A 100-foot crater was first spotted last summer in Yamal peninsula, a freezing cold land 2,000 miles north of Moscow, and …