Amidst the chaos of the pandemic and series of unfortunate events, you may have missed a worrying event that’s taken place which heightens already high concerns about climate change.
On May 29th, near the Siberian industrial city of Norsilk, disaster struck when a diesel fuel tank at a power plant belonging to the Norsilk Nickel Mining Group collapsed, sending 15,000 tons of diesel into a nearby waterway and pouring an additional 6000 tons onto surrounding land. That’s approximately 21,000,000 kilos of diesel currently swimming in an arctic river and choking the land.
Russian President Vladmir Putin has declared a state of emergency, with this being deemed the worst ecological catastrophe to ever hit the region. In fact, the situation is so dire that the large amount of diesel that fell into the remote waterway is visible from space, appearing as bright red splotches.
However, what is even more worrying about this event is actually what caused the collapse of the fuel tank in the first place. It’s said to have happened due to the melting of permafrost under the tank, causing it to give away. This is alarming as it shows that global temperatures have reached high enough to melt through a layer of permanent snow and frost. Permafrost melting will also worsen global warming even further, as the layers of frost have trapped within them a large amount of methane, a greenhouse gas worse than carbon dioxide, which upon release, could be catastrophic for the environment.
