Thread by @SkyNews

A mammoth graveyard, the sinking ground and the carbon hidden beneath the surface.

Sky’s @DiMagnaySky reports from Arctic Russia to find out what ancient animal remains the thawing permafrost is unveiling and what this has to do with climate change

#DailyClimateShow

This is one treasure of the thawing permafrost - a mammoth bone.

Here in Duvanny Yar lie other animals which roamed what were then Arctic grasslands in their millions during the Pleistocene era, from two million to fifteen thousand years ago

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It was 30C when @DiMagnaySky arrived in Chersky - not quite the temperature you expect for Arctic Russia.

Nikita Zimov, who runs a scientific research station with his father just outside of Chersky, has a stark warning about permafrost 👇

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So what is permafrost?🧊

Permafrost is the layer of permanently frozen soil which stretches beneath 65% of Russian land.

It also lies beneath up to a quarter of the northern hemisphere’s land mass

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Permafrost doesn’t only hold the bones of long-extinct animals.

It’s estimated that permafrost globally holds some 1,400 gigatonnes of carbon - over 1.5 times the amount of carbon in the atmosphere now

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“These roots are essentially plants that were frozen in the soil at the time that the mammoths were roaming.”

From inside a permafrost cave, Sky’s @DiMagnaySky explains how as the remains of dead plants in the permafrost thaw and decompose, they release further gases

And the more permafrost that thaws, the more buildings will collapse 🏠

In Chersky, residents have had to move out of their homes as walls buckle. This story is being replicated across the Arctic’s rusting Soviet towns and cities

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Is there a solution to thawing permafrost?🧊

Nikita Zimov and his father want to return the Arctic to how it was in the mammoth era.

They want to bring herbivores back to graze on grasslands, and yes, that includes bringing camels to the Arctic🐫!

Restoring the grasslands would capture more carbon and therefore would help keep the permafrost cool.

So far, the Zimovs have around 150 animals - but they would need millions for their rewilding plan to work

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You can watch @DiMagnaySky’s report at 6:30pm on the #DailyClimateShow tonight.

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The Big Thaw: Russia's disappearing permafrost

Watch the full report here 👇