Cryosphere published an article by American specialists from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena (USA), in which they claim that the permafrost located in southern Siberia and Alaska will almost completely melt by 2300.
Previously, scientists believed that the coldest areas of permafrost are protected from melting, at least for the next thousand years, however, at the current rate of development of global warming, this was not the case.
If scientists are not mistaken, and within two centuries, permafrost on an area of 6.8 million square meters. km will melt - this will lead to catastrophic consequences, because now the frozen soil reliably stores colossal volumes of various organic matter (about 120 billion tons), including methane. During the thawing of permafrost, the methane contained in it will be released into the atmosphere, which will lead to the acceleration of global warming, since methane is a much more "greenhouse" gas than carbon dioxide.
As a result of these processes, our planet will be enveloped in a dense "blanket" of greenhouse gases, which will prevent the evaporation of excess heat into outer space - the Earth will begin to overheat at an accelerated rate, which most modern species of flora and fauna will not survive. Whether a person will be able to avoid extinction is also a big question.
Recall that earlier the British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking predicted a quick death to mankind if one of the planets closest to the Earth was not colonized.
