Environment

The discovery took place in 1991, in Siberia. The Batagaika or Batagay crater, nicknamed the “Gateway to Hell,” is threatening the planet.

This mega-subsidence, the largest in the world, is “due to a degradation of the permafrost due to a rise in temperatures and precipitation in the Arctic,” indicates the daily newspaper Nice-Matin. And according to the scientists who are closely monitoring the situation, its evolution does not bode well.

The crater is widening at a worrying speed, releasing various greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, contributing, at the same time, to global warming. The crevasse is therefore aptly named “Gateway to Hell.” While it was 790 meters wide ten years ago, it is now 200 meters wider, or 990m, indicates Sciences et Vie, relayed by Nice-Matin.

“As it collapses, the Batagay crater exposes layers of permafrost that had been frozen for thousands of years. “This represents a volume of one million cubic meters per year,” since 2014, figures that could even be underestimated, reports the scientific community.

On the one hand, global warming causes and leads to an accelerated melting of the permafrost and on the other, the greenhouse gases released contribute to the rise in temperatures. A vicious circle.

However, researchers note that if the crater continues to widen, the permafrost that would remain inside would only be a few meters thick, limiting its development.

(MH with AsD - Source: Nice-Matin - Illustration: Unsplash)