It’s a scenario straight out of The X-Files: A prehistoric pathogen, isolated for a millennium in Arctic ice, comes to light in the modern world. The catch is that it’s not science fiction—and thanks to the great Arctic thaw, the discovery suggests an emerging public health worry unless nations sharply cut fossil fuel use in the next few decades. French scientists announced this week that working in the lab, they have found a “giant virus” in a 30,000-year-old sample of permafrost from Siberia. The mining and fossil fuel industries are eager to expand into the Arctic as the region’s thawing ice cover opens access to mineral and fossil fuel deposits in remote areas, some of them in important habitat for whales, walruses, seals, fish, and other Arctic species.
Russia is already pumping oil above the Arctic Circle, while Norway’s state oil company has attempted to strike oil in the Barents Sea, and Dutch oil giant Shellis prospecting in the Chukchi Sea north of Alaska. This newly discovered pathogen, named Mollivirus sibericum, is 0.6 microns long and has more than 500 genes. By contrast, the contemporary influenza A and B viruses each contain eight genes. IF people start moving into places that will disturb these giant viruses and wake them up...what will be the consequence? Only writers of science fiction can imagine!
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Mrs. TaylorI love science! Everything about the world is interesting and never boring. I love to study plants, animals, insects, and people. My favorite subjects are my students who are the most unique organisms on the planet! Categories |