The highest rate of coastal erosion is observed in the East Siberian and Laptev seas
The disappearance of islands and coastal erosion are indicative of global warming.
This was announced by the Arctic researcher, professor at Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU), head of the Arctic research laboratory at the Pacific Oceanological Institute of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Igor Semiletov.
“The rate of coastal erosion of the ice complex on the capes now reaches 20-30 m over the summer. As a result, islands disappear, for example, Semenovsky, Vasilievsky. In the memory of our grandfathers they were still islands, but now they are "banks" (shallow waters). Over the past 1-2 thousand years, about 40 km of land has been “eaten up” by coastal erosion,”the press service of TPU quoted Semiletov as saying.
According to scientists, a particularly high rate of erosion is observed in the East Siberian Sea and the Laptev Sea - the marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean. According to Semiletov, global warming does not mean that it is literally getting warmer every day.
“We're talking about an increase in the global average temperature. This has been proven: now there is a rise in sea level, melting of glaciers, including mountain ones. The fact is that the climatic curve goes from warming to cooling. For example, 10 thousand years ago, the temperature level was about the same as it is now. For the first time in all modern geological history, this cyclicality has "broken": now we have to live in an era of cooling, but the temperature level does not drop, but rises,”the professor explained.
TPU is the world's leading scientific center for the study of the Arctic. On the basis of the international laboratory for the study of carbon in the Arctic seas, cooperation of 15 universities and academic institutions from Russia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Great Britain, the USA and Italy is carried out.
During their expeditions to the Arctic, TPU scientists and their colleagues discovered a significant degradation of the underwater permafrost: the once reliable ice "plug", preventing the release of huge reserves of gas hydrates, today "leaked out". Through these disturbances to the underwater permafrost, powerful methane emissions from bottom sediments reach the atmosphere.
Promotional video:
Scientists are trying to determine how much methane is buried in the vast areas of the Siberian Arctic shelf, how much of this huge reserve can get into the atmosphere, and what impact this pumping of methane can have on the climate system in the near future. This is important for the long-term planning of the development of the Arctic.