Credit: Roger Bacon/Reuters
In the northern Russian city of Norilsk, almost 60% of buildings are impacted by foundations shifting as permafrost1 melts. 10% of residential building have been vacated.
Most foundation movements happen slowly, & can be managed safely. In some instances more rapid movements place lives at risk, as when a roof collapsed at Norilsk blood bank, breaking both of a doctor’s legs.
Other problems include:
● craters in Siberia, which have been attributed to explosions of methane released by thawing permafrost
● a boy died after contracting anthrax from bacteria released by melting permafrost
● scientific outposts on the northern coastline are disappearing into the sea as permafrost thaws
https://www.wired.com/2016/10/thawing-permafrost-destroying-arctic-cities/
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1 International Permafrost Association: “What is permafrost?”, http://ipa.arcticportal.org/publications/occasional-publications/what-is-permafrost / expensive dangerous Soviet era housing block Nurd Kamal mosque arctic Russian city Norilsk Yury Scherbakov cracks appearing wall installed two-room flat caused shoddy workmanship walls started cracking floor started incline could feel it tilt Nadezhda carry furniture out of the flat craftsman five-story building 59 Talnakhskaya Street northern Russian city Norilsk sinking permafrost thawed foundation slowly disintegrated March 2015 local authorities posted notices stairwells building was condemned cracking and collapsing structures growing problem cities like Norilsk nickel-producing centre people located 180 miles above Arctic Circle climate change thaws perennially frozen soil increases precipitation Valery Tereshkov deputy head emergencies ministry Krasnoyarsk region almost 60 percent buildings Norilsk deformed climate change shrinking permafrost zone local engineers 100 residential buildings one-tenth of the housing fund vacated damage thawing permafrost slow-motion wrecks patched prevented engineering solutions foundation shifts suddenly put lives at risk cement slabs broke doctor’s legs front steps overhanging roof Norilsk blood bank collapsed June 2015 building maintenance costs cities Russia’s resource-rich north engineers geologists technogenic factors sewer building heat chemical pollution warming permafrost Norilsk most polluted city Russia climate change deepening thaw speeding up destruction Russia establishing new military bases oil-drilling infrastructure across Arctic Greenpeace warned permafrost thawing caused thousands oil gas pipeline breaks were problems climate change Ali Kerimov engineer Foundation Research Production Norilsk study each case separately understand climate change global warming more frequent forest fires flooding across Russia impact permafrost covers two-thirds country’s territory at least seven giant craters discovered Siberia caused thawing permafrost methane explode ground 12-year-old boy Salekhard died from anthrax thawing released bacteria Arctic islands northern coastline scientific outposts disappearing permafrost thaws sea ice melts wave action increases Valery Grebenets Moscow State University department of cryolithology glaciology teaches students horror stories thawing permafrost buckling roads railways soil runoff killing fish release toxic radioactive pollutants contained frozen dams vegetation treeless tundra spots snow early storm warming built gulag prisoners city gets more than six weeks polar night 2 million tonnes snow each winter temperature drop below -51 degrees C -60F average annual temperatures Arctic rising faster anywhere else more than 2 degrees C since 1900 2015 study found increases soil temperatures Russia’s permafrost regions last 50 years soil temperatures Norilsk increased almost 1 degree C between 1999 and 2013 permafrost misnomer deeper soil remains frozen year-round active layer soil extending several feet below surface thaws summer thaws unevenly contorting warping buildings 1960s builders apartment blocks Norilsk drilling holes 100 feet deep pouring reinforced concrete piles stuck into permanently frozen soil below piles lifted building off the ground air circulation cool soil preventing further thawing engineers soil could start warming so much data Norilsk monitoring station showed active layer thawing earlier thickness increased from three feet to five feet climate change increased precipitation adding more moisture soi freezes expands crumbling concrete piles snow covers ground further warms permafrost effect climate change was not accounted for properly building falling thousands people living in buildings which have potential fall Dmitry Streletskiy professor geography George Washington University problem threatens Alaska Canada northern territories Russia has cities so far north buildings coal mining city Vorkuta damaged emergencies ministry’s Tereshkov Salekhard Nadym Dudinka port Yenisei River Norilsk Nickel ships products deformations 100,000 people living buildings critical condition across Russia’s far north Streletskiy fire protection engineer building condemned /
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