In the permafrost of the Arctic, a large number of prehistoric creatures are hidden. They were frozen in ice and slept for tens of thousands of years. As these permafrosts melt in rising global temperatures, they are finally making a difference.
Recently, in Canada's Yukon, the remains of another prehistoric animal have been exhumed, which is exciting. This is a mammoth that lived 35,000 years ago, and its impressive preservation is perfect, perfectly showing the shape of this prehistoric creature.
The Yukon Region is located in northwestern Canada, bordering Alaska in the United States, and almost 10% of the land is located in the Arctic Circle, which is a very cold place. The frozen soil here can freeze the remains of prehistoric creatures like a refrigerator, perfectly stored for tens of thousands of years, so the Yukon has always been known for preserving the remains of ice age animals. As long as these creatures did not suffer much damage before they were born, they can be shown their appearance after they are unearthed.
According to reports, the mammoth was unearthed in a local gold mine. At that time, miners were excavating here and accidentally found the remains. Subsequently, experts came here and excavated the mammoth "mummy".
Experts were also shocked to see the mammoth because its remains were so well preserved. According to Professor Dan Shugar of the University of Calgary, its toenails, fur, hair, and torso are well preserved, and even in its intestines, researchers can see what the last bite of food it ate before it died. The researchers say this is the most complete mammoth remains unearthed in North America to date.
Unfortunately, this mammoth did not enjoy much of the world's delicacies. The mammoth was measured to be only 1.4 meters long, and experts speculate that it was only 1 month old when it died.
According to Dr. Grant Zazula, a paleontologist in the Yukon government, the little mammoth may have been with its mother at the time, but unexpectedly fell into the mud and died.
It is reportedly a tiny mammoth, known locally as Nun cho ga, which stands for "giant animal cub" in the local language. It lived in an era about 30,000 years ago, living on the same land as ice age animals such as cave lions.
This is the second relatively complete mammoth remains found by humans, the last being a small mammoth found in Siberia in 2007, which is a little smaller than the one found this time. I have to say that these permafrost do hide the remains of many prehistoric animals, which can let us see their true face of Lushan.
In August 2020, another team of scientists reported that they had found the remains of a woolly rhinoceros in the permafrost of the Sakha Republic of Russia. This woolly rhinoceros is also small, only 3 to 4 years old, and has been well preserved to this day after death and has been discovered by humans.
In 2021, scientists reported the carcasses of two cave lions found in siberian permafrost on the Banks of the Samuel Yeh River in Russia. Cave lions, which also lived during the Ice Age like mammoths, are now extinct. The two cave lions were found in 2018 and 2017 respectively and lived before 27,962 and 43,448 years ago.
Scientists are not all very happy about the unearthing of these prehistoric animal remains, but a considerable number of people have expressed their concerns. The permafrost of the Arctic Circle is not only sequestered with prehistoric animals, but also many things we don't want to see, such as prehistoric viruses.
Like plants and animals, some viruses existed in prehistoric times and are now gone. But some of them are not completely annihilated, but hidden in permafrost. Once these permafrosts melt, prehistoric viruses may also reappear in the human world. For these viruses, humans may not be prepared, the human immune system does not know how to deal with it, and the harm they may cause is quite huge.
In 2014, scientists discovered a virus that lived 30,000 years ago in the ice of Siberia and named it Pietovirus sibericum. Shockingly, this prehistoric virus was very large, reaching 1.5 microns in length, about the same size as ordinary bacteria, and it was also the largest virus known to mankind at that time.
Even more frightening, the virus was contagious at the time. Fortunately, viruses usually only infect specific organisms, and this prehistoric virus attacked amoeba, not humans.
The question is, even if the prehistoric virus discovered this time does not infect humans, who can guarantee that the next prehistoric virus unearthed will not be harmful to humans? As global temperatures rise further, and various wells drilled in the Arctic continue to dig, more and more prehistoric creatures like mammoths and viruses are emerging.
We have already witnessed such a threat. In 2016, a dead reindeer carcass was unearthed in Siberia. The anthrax inside the reindeer carcass was exhumed along with the reindeer and quickly spread among the thousands of reindeer in the area, with very dire consequences.
The weather was also so hot that the pathogens were released. However, experts believe that the reindeer that died at that time were not buried in permafrost, but one of the anthrax epidemics that killed millions of reindeer in the early 20th century, so they were buried relatively shallow and easier to release.
Therefore, some scientists say that they are not worried about these prehistoric viruses, because the human body will inadvertently inhale thousands of viruses into the body every day, and only a very small part of the real threat to health is. The claim that prehistoric viruses infected humans is only a very extreme case.
This is not to say that the thawing of permafrost does not need to be worried at all, because there is not only viruses hidden in the Arctic permafrost, but also other worrying things - methane.
As arctic permafrost melts, microbes rapidly decompose various biological debris, producing large amounts of methane. Methane is also a greenhouse gas, warming more than 20 times that of carbon dioxide! In other words, with the thawing of arctic permafrost, global warming will become more serious, and the consequences will be unimaginable!
So, what humanity should really worry about is the problem of global warming. If the Earth can stop warming, these viruses and methane can be sealed in permafrost. If the earth continues to have fever, no one can guarantee what will happen!
It is no exaggeration to say that the Arctic permafrost is a real-life Pandora's box that humans are opening, and many people are enjoying the prehistoric animal remains unearthed in it. When the terrible things in the magic box come to the human world, human beings may not even regret it. #Mammoth ##永冻土融化现万年猛犸象遗骸 #