Last year, researchers discovered zombie viruses in Russia that had been dormant and buried in ice for 48,500 years.
Scientists say that it may once again pose a threat to wildlife after being frozen for many years without causing much harm.
It’s a sci-fi movie style to hear that an epidemic virus emerged from a disease in the distant past is a fact.
Scientists have said that even though the risk potential is low, it should not be underestimated.
What do scientists say?
Freezing as much of this permafrost as possible is a key consideration, said Kimberly Miner, a climate scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
Permafrost covers one-fifth of the Northern Hemisphere and has existed for thousands of years under the arctic tundra and boreal forests of Alaska, Canada, and Russia.
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It serves as a time capsule of sorts, preserving the mummified remains of several extinct animals, including two cave lion cubs and a woolly rhinoceros.
Permafrost is a good storage medium because it is not only cold, it is light-impermeable and oxygen-free, but it has a climate 4 times warmer than the rest of the Earth as it stands now.
Publication of study
To better understand the risks posed by frozen viruses, Jean-Michel Claverie, professor emeritus of medicine and genetics in Marseille, France, tested soil samples taken from Siberian permafrost.
Its contents are still infectious. He is on the hunt for what he describes as “zombie viruses.”
Scientists believe that many viruses are frozen inside the glaciers, so there are chances of many dangers due to their melting. Scientists have also said that.
Images AAAS