A 200-foot-wide crater on Siberia’s remote Yamal Peninsula was likely caused by thawing permafrost, Russian scientists say. Permafrost melt in Siberia has long been seen as a potential trigger for accelerating climate change, due to the release of massive methane deposits trapped in the soil. “The last two summers in the Yamal have been exceptionally warm, at about nine degrees Fahrenheit above average,” ClimateProgress reports. “Rising temperatures could have allowed the permafrost to thaw and collapse, releasing the methane previously trapped by the subterranean ice.”
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