Climate Thawing soils threaten millions of people according to study
According to a study, the thawing of permafrost soils in Arctic regions is threatening the way of life of up to three million people. The most serious factors are the destruction of infrastructure and problems with transportation and supply routes.
18.01.2025, 06:19
SDA
The team of researchers from Austria, Denmark and Sweden also identified a potential deterioration in water and food supplies as well as an increased risk of pollutants and infectious diseases. This is because the thawing of the subsurface, which is linked to climate change, releases harmful substances from old oil and gas pits, among other things.
For the study, the researchers have for the first time investigated the greatest risks associated with these environmental changes over several years together with those affected in various areas of the Arctic in Europe, America and Asia. They present the study in the journal "Communications Earth and Environment".
Not just dreams of the future
These are not future dangers, but developments that are already progressing, said lead author Susanna Gartler, an anthropologist researching at the University of Vienna. The thawing of the subsurface is leading to landslides and increased erosion in coastal areas, among other things.
The experts looked at communities on Greenland and on the Norwegian archipelago of Spitsbergen, as well as in the Russian Republic of Sakha and in Canadian areas on Lake Beaufort and at the mouth of the Mackenzie River. Indigenous people live in most of these settlements.
People rely on their own adaptability
Gartler told the German news agency DPA that when hunting and fishing huts slide into the water, this has an impact on indigenous people's ability to obtain food and on their traditional way of life.
Settlements with residential buildings are also affected, such as Nuugaatsiaq on Greenland. A landslide triggered a tsunami there in 2017, which caused devastating damage. Nevertheless, many people in the areas surveyed expressed confidence that they would be able to continue living there, the researcher said. "It is emphasized over and over again that Inuit and indigenous people have adapted to changing conditions for thousands of years," she said.
