Final Hazards Report

 One of the more dangerous hazards seen in Russia is the slow thawing of permafrost caused by climate change. Because of the overall increase in average temperatures, areas of Russia that had soil previously frozen year round are now slowly thawing, leading to soil instability which influences destruction of infrastructure and other natural disasters around Russia. According to "bellona.org" "The Russian economy stands to lose more than $67 billion by 2050 thanks to melting permafrost due to climate change, which threatens the foundations of much of the country’s infrastructure." This destruction of the ground can have serious effects on the health of those living in Russia, as "theglobalobservatory.org" states, "Thawing is also causing limestone deposits to release methane, mercury, and radon into the surroundings. Mercury poisoning from water sources has been reported in permafrost regions; this release on a larger scale could have devastating consequences on Russian health security. Radon is considered the second-leading cause of lung cancer." Another worrying occurrence which could be spurred by climate change are the potential release of other microbes harmful to humans. "www.jpl.nasa.gov" notes that "Trapped within Earth’s permafrost – ground that remains frozen for a minimum of two years – are untold quantities of greenhouse gases, microbes, and chemicals, including the now-banned pesticide DDT."

The main way this hazard can be addressed is further research on how to prepare for the impact thawing will have as well as more intensive measures/policies in order to mitigate climate change. To research the impact, more funding can be given to centers which monitor and study this issue. However, it is also important to note that something which makes it difficult for Russia to receive this funding is the cruel war on Ukraine which lead to many countries cutting of funding to Russia. As "theworld.org" points out, "But since the war started last February, many Western universities and research institutions have stopped funding permafrost research in Russia. A combination of moral opposition to the war, fear that foreign researchers might face safety issues while traveling in Russia, and the practical impossibility of funding research projects in the face of sanctions that make it impossible to transfer money, have all played into the decisions." Overall, research on permafrost melting will take a global effort to do effectively, and the war on Ukraine (while obviously being extremely unethical) leads to reduced funding from Russia towards climate change (instead going towards the war) and reduced support from many other countries which again is necessary for change.

Currently, Russia needs to focus significantly more effort on revising their current climate change goals. "climateactiontracker.org" states generally, "Russia’s efforts to tackle climate change remain very low. Its few relevant policies are unambitious or have an unclear expected effect on emissions." According to "ccpi.org" "Russia is ranked 63rd in this year´s CCPI – down four places and remaining among the very low performers." (CCPI standing for Climate Change Performance Index.) The same source goes on to state, "In late October 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new climate doctrine. The framework document, which is an updated version of the 2009 doctrine, confirms the recognition of human-induced climate change and Russia’s goal to reach net zero by 2060. However, it makes no mention of phasing out fossil fuels, with Russia’s energy strategy still largely dominated by the use of natural gas, nuclear power and large hydro, with some modest development of renewable energy (wind and solar) and energy efficiency measures." A step Russia could take to fight climate change (which is directly causing the thawing of permafrost) is attempting to work towards replacing their reliance on fossil fuels with more renewable options.

One of the areas of Russia most at risk of damages caused by permafrost thawing is Siberia. "theglobalobservatory.org" (same source used above) states that "Permafrost covers more than 60 percent of Russia’s territory, putting several large river ports and cities with over 100,000 inhabitants at risk. Siberia has experienced record-breaking temperatures—over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in June 2020, for the first time in recorded history." Because of how much of Siberia's infrastructure is built on this unstable permafrost, the increasing temperatures caused by climate change will have a devastating impact on this region. Relating again to the reemergence of pathogens, "www.science.org" shares that "Researchers from Aix-Marseille University were the first to isolate viruses from ancient permafrost, reporting in 2014 and 2015 that samples of Siberian soil frozen for 30,000 years harbored two large DNA viruses that could infect amoebae but posed no threat to humans." As soil in Siberia and other areas of the Russian artic melt, viruses that may impact humans can be revived which could lead to a global pandemic. The same source states, "A more alarming pathogen may have already emerged naturally from frozen ground. In the unusually hot summer of 2016, Bacillus anthracis, a bacterium that lurks in soil worldwide and causes anthrax, killed 2649 reindeer in Siberia. It also sickened 36 people, including a 12-year-old boy who died," this being something which may have sparked by permafrost melting.

If my only goal was to avoid areas of Russia which permafrost effects, I might live in Moscow. "databasin.org" has a world map showing regions with permafrost, and because Moscow isn't in the Russian Artic, it doesn't appear to have much permafrost. Of course, permafrost melting is predicted to have an impact on both the rest of Russia and the rest of the world due to release of pathogens and release of CO2 which would worsen climate change and has risk of introducing new diseases. However, the thawing of permafrost doesn't appear to have a huge impact on Moscow specifically.

(taken from https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/01/1110722)