Saturday, May 6, 2017

global warming, plague resurrected


Climate change is melting permafrost soils that have been frozen for thousands of years, and as the soils melt they are releasing ancient viruses and bacteria that, having lain dormant, are springing back to life....
People and animals have been buried in permafrost for centuries, so it is conceivable that other infectious agents could be unleashed. For instance, scientists have discovered intact 1918 Spanish flu virus in corpses buried in mass graves in Alaska's tundra. Smallpox and the bubonic plague are also likely buried in Siberia....
Once they were revived, the viruses quickly became infectious.
Meanwhile in Hannover,
Around 50,000 people in Hannover will be evacuated from their homes on Sunday while experts defuse five World War Two bombs.
The operation is the second largest of its kind carried out in Germany, and will affect around a tenth of the city's population.
The past has reminders for the present.

1 comment:

  1. Not to mention massive methane releases from the melting permafrost, a serious contributor to the warming process.

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