“Gates of Hell” – that’s what locals call the huge crater that formed in Siberia! A large hole in the ground called Patagaika is growing at an extraordinary rate, surprising scientists. The crater is actually one kilometer long and one hundred meters deep. From where he came?
The “gates of hell” are opening wider and wider in Russia. A large, mysterious crater in Siberia is potentially threatening humanity and is still expanding
This place in Russia terrifies locals and baffles scientists. In northern Yakutia, in distant Siberia, a huge hole has formed in the ground, which is constantly and rapidly growing. Residents of Yakutia praised the Batagayka crater and described it as the “gate to hell.”. What is this amazing place? The Patagaika crater that originated in the permafrost is a so-called thermal depression. It is formed due to the gradual melting of permafrost. The walls of the crater gradually collapse, causing the crater to expand by several meters per year. In 2014, the length of Patajajka was less than 800 metres, now it is about one kilometer and the depth is about one hundred metres. Is all this dangerous?
Do Siberian craters cause global warming? Methane is much worse than carbon dioxide
Yes, because the city of Batagay is located only 10 kilometers from the crater. If the permafrost begins to thaw faster, this site and surrounding villages could be in danger. But what is worse is that thousands of tons of methane gas are released into the atmosphere from this hole, up to 5,000 tons annually. At the same time, this gas is about 20 times more harmful greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide. According to some scientists who published the results of their research in the journal Nature, the previous climate warming that occurred on our planet could be related to the release of large amounts of methane into the atmosphere through craters such as those in Yakutia.
