An international team of researchers from Russia and the United States concluded that cities located in the permafrost zone in Eastern Siberia could collapse by 2050. The reason is the thawing of soil due to global warming. This is reported by The Siberian Times.
According to the researchers, after 35 years, the bearing capacity of rocks containing permafrost may decrease by 75-95 percent. This will deform and collapse both residential and industrial structures. The fastest changes will affect the cities of Anadyr and Salekhard - buildings may lose stability by the mid-2020s. Yakutsk and Norilsk will be under threat of destruction in the 2040s.
Scientists emphasize that the large uncertainty of meteorological forecasts does not allow making final conclusions. However, they recommend using new construction technologies that take into account the thawing of permafrost, since even under the most optimistic scenarios, soils will lose 25 percent of their bearing capacity.
Permafrost occupies about 60 percent of the territory of Russia. It is most widespread in Eastern Siberia, where the temperature of the rocks does not rise above zero degrees Celsius. Groundwater in such conditions is in the form of ice.
In September last year, scientists said that the destruction of permafrost in northern Russia could lead to the formation of giant craters. According to the researchers, such cavities in the ground can appear not only in uninhabited areas, but also in cities on Yamal, the National News Service (NSN) reports.