Tauender permafrost: dangers for the environment and nutritional security!

Tauender permafrost: dangers for the environment and nutritional security!

Longyearbyen, Norwegen - The alarming effects of the deaf permafrost in the Arctic are no longer to be ignored! Under the co-management of Susanna Gartler from the Institute for Cultural and Social Anthropology at the University of Vienna, a comprehensive study in four Arctic regions was carried out between 2017 and 2023: Longyearbyen on Spitzbergen, the municipality of Avannaata in Greenland, the Mackenzie River Delta in Canada and the Bulunskiy district in the Republic of Sacha (Russia). The results are terrifying, as the Kleine Zeitung . Researchers identified five central risks that threaten both the infrastructure and the livelihood of people.

The most serious challenges are damage to buildings and traffic routes due to erosion that are particularly dramatic in coastal areas and deltas. The hunting and fishing practices that are vital for many residents could be severely affected because the access to food resources are endangered by landslides and unstable soils. There is also a risk of deterioration in water quality, which, among other things, endangers the drinking water supply in Longyearbyen, where the dam of the main water source is on frozen soil. Another serious threat is the release of dangerous pollutants that have been left behind in previous industrial plants, which endangered both humans and ecosystems.

The risks of the contaminated floors

The problem pulls more circles: In addition to the immediate physical dangers, the region also faces the problem of persistent organic pollutants (POPS), which have been entered into the environment for decades. These toxic substances not only accumulate in the food chain, but can also get into floors and promote resistance to medicinal products, although this is against the health of people. According to the information from lanuv , these substances are extremely durable and also detectable in remote areas. It is high time to take the dangers to the environment and human health seriously to develop suitable measures to remedy!