Arctic in danger: Thawing soils threaten millions of inhabitants
By Albert Otti
Vienna/Arctic - According to a study, the thawing of permafrost soils in Arctic regions is endangering the way of life of up to three million people. The most serious factors are the destruction of infrastructure and problems with transportation and supply routes, according to a study carried out by researchers from Austria, Denmark and Sweden, among others.
The team also identified a potential deterioration in the water and food supply as well as an increased risk of pollutants and infectious diseases. This is because the thawing of the subsurface, which is linked to climate change , releases harmful substances from old oil and gas pits, among other things.
For the study, the social and natural scientists, together with those affected in various areas of the Arctic in Europe, America and Asia, investigated the greatest risks associated with these environmental changes for the first time over several years.
They present the study in the journal "Communications Earth and Environment".
The main author Susanna Gartler, an anthropologist researching at the University of Vienna, said that these are not future dangers, but developments that are already underway.
The thawing of the subsurface is leading to landslides and increased erosion in coastal areas, among other things.
Hunting or fishing huts and even houses can slide into the water
The experts looked at communities on Greenland and on the Norwegian archipelago of Spitsbergen, as well as in the Russian Republic of Sakha and in Canadian areas on Lake Beaufort and at the mouth of the Mackenzie River. Indigenous people live in most of these settlements.
Gartler told the German Press Agency that when hunting and fishing huts slide into the water, this has an impact on the indigenous people's ability to obtain food and their traditional way of life.
Settlements with residential buildings are also affected, such as Nuugaatsiaq on Greenland. A landslide triggered a tsunami there in 2017, which caused devastating damage.
Nevertheless, many people in the areas surveyed expressed confidence that they would be able to continue living there, as the researcher explained.
"It is emphasized over and over again that Inuit and indigenous people have adapted to changing conditions for thousands of years," she said.