20 Permafrost/Methane Explosions Confirmed So Far In Siberia; Scientists' New Model May Explain Why

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Crater C17, formed in 2020. Image: Evgeny Chuvilin/Skoltech

Huge gas explosions are erupting in the icy soils of Siberia, a recent phenomenon that is linked to climate change and has left gaping craters across the landscape. These sudden gas blowouts in permafrost, a layer of frozen ground, pose a serious risk to Arctic communities and infrastructure. That’s why scientists have been trying to understand the origins of these dangerous eruptions since the discovery of the first crater, C1, in 2014.

Now, a team led by Evgeny Chuvilin, a leading research scientist at the Skoltech Center for Hydrocarbon Recovery in Moscow, has proposed a new formation model that can explain all 20 craters that have been discovered so far across Siberia’s Yamal and Gydan Peninsulas, which could help predict where they might strike next as they increase in frequency due to climate change, according to a recent study published in the journal Geosciences.

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Scientists have been raising the alarm about the effects of human-driven climate change on permafrost for decades because of its numerous deleterious consequences. The thawing of this layer deforms the ground, putting millions of people at risk from infrastructure damage, while also releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, exacerbating climate change.

The new study found that in the context of the gas blowouts, the surface permafrost “caps” become weakened by this thawing process, which makes them more vulnerable to pressure from pools of methane gas that build up deep underground. This degradation of the upper permafrost also causes the subterranean “intrapermafrost” mix, which consists of cold briny water and other materials, to circulate faster, further compromising the strength of the cap above it. At a certain point, the pressure from the gas pools reaches a tipping point that triggers the immense explosions. Given the direct link to climate change, Chuvilin and his colleagues expect these blowouts to continue in the future, though they require specific permafrost conditions that are particularly dangerous for the Yamal and Gydan regions.


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https://www.vice.com/en/article/wx5mmq/the-ground-is-literally-exploding-due-to-climate-change-in-siberia-and-its-going-to-get-worse