Story of the Pleistocene Park
Story of the Pleistocene Park
The Stage
Our story is set in the uninhabited siberian lands near the northpole. We all know, the top most layer of earth that we call soil, is a mixture of organic (dead plants, fallen leaves etc) and inorganic matter (like sand and water). Near the poles of our earth, a thick layer of soil remains frozen through out the year, and thus, is called PERMAFROST.
This permafrost contains tons and tons of organic matter (from plants and animals that lived and died before the soil is frozen)that remained frozen since thousands of years, waiting to be decomposed.As we all know (I hope) we have been heating our earth on carbon flame since about 150 years, and the Arctic tundra(which also includes our stage) is heating up twice as fast as the rest of the world.
As a result, this PERMAFROST is now melting.
As the permafrost melts, the organic matter that is locked up for all these years gets exposed to microbes. And when the microbes munch on these delicious dead bodies, they release giga tonnes of methane and carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere.
Methane and carbon dioxide, potent greenhouse gases, increase the global temperatures. And the estimates say, this will be equivalent to burning all the live trees on our planet, twice.
The released greenhouse gases make the earth warmer, which melts more permafrost, which releases more greenhouse gases, and the VICIOUS positive feedback cycle continues.
And that is exactly why this thawing permafrost is rightly called *THE TICKING CARBON BOMB.*
The viscious cycle of permafrost thaw heating the earth along the way
Methane release from melting permafrost lake, methane as we kow, is a highly flammable gas
The Hero
Zimov was worried, more than the ridicule, about the disaster that is unfolding right in front of his eyes. So he decided to do something about it, and got a land of 16 sq km, inside the Arctic Circle, granted by the Russian government.
There he tests his solution, that sounds audacious and involves woolly mammoths. Yes you heard it right, the giant furry elephant from the ice age, that is actually *EXTINCT*.
One of the first persons to notify the world of this ticking bomb is Segey Zimov, a Russian geophysicist. As expected, the scientific community initially laughed at his theories and denied publishing.
Zimov was worried, more than the ridicule, about the disaster that is unfolding right in front of his eyes. So he decided to do something about it, and got a land of 16 sq km, inside the Arctic Circle, granted by the Russian government.
There he tests his solution, that sounds audacious and involves woolly mammoths. Yes you heard it right, the giant furry elephant from the ice age, that is actually *EXTINCT*.
Sergey Zimov, the edge of melting permafrost in the background
The Delivery Guy
When Zimov first prepared a way to diffuse the carbon bomb, he realised, he needed herbivores (plant eating animals). Not just any other herbivore, One that can bring down trees, trample through ice, and survive the harsh arctic cold.
The furry giant woolly mammoth is the perfect candidate. They lived in the same arctic tundra, back when it was mainly a grassland, along with bisons and other plant grazing animals. And for some yet unkown reasons (most speculate we ate em all) they went extinct some three to ten thousand years ago.
Zimov looked for the solution right where the problem was, and in the melting permafrost, found several woolly mammoth remnants (flesh, bones, ivory etc..)
Dr. George Church, the Harvard geneticist, was invited to take up the woolly mammoth remnants, and then, make a real, live, woolly mammoth. And....he agreed.(no big deal, we do this all the time) .
The furry giant woolly mammoth is the perfect candidate. They lived in the same arctic tundra, back when it was mainly a grassland, along with bisons and other plant grazing animals. And for some yet unkown reasons (most speculate we ate em all) they went extinct some three to ten thousand years ago.
Zimov looked for the solution right where the problem was, and in the melting permafrost, found several woolly mammoth remnants (flesh, bones, ivory etc..)
Dr. George Church, the Harvard geneticist, was invited to take up the woolly mammoth remnants, and then, make a real, live, woolly mammoth. And....he agreed.(no big deal, we do this all the time) .
Dr. George Church taking samples from woolly mammoth remnants
The Solution
Zimov's audacious solution is to build a park, that he calls, a Pleistocene park. In the Pleistocene(what we know as the ice age) the Arctic was filled with large herbivores, grazing on vast grasslands. When the animals went extinct, the grass was replaced by trees and moss. And the plan now, is to bring back the animals, that will support the grassland ecosystem.
Here is how it works.
Even in the Arctic Circle, there is a growing season, where sun shines and plants can grow. Above the permanently frosted PERMAFROST lies a thin layer of active soil. On this soil plants grow through the summer. When the winter comes and it starts to snow, this layer will also be frozen from above, and the plants cease to grow. The herbivores can make it through the winter, and when the summer comes around, it's time to feast again.
Currently, there are two main factors, accelerating the permafrost melt down.
One is the type of vegetation on the active layer. The tall trees, retain more heat, than the short grass (just like the fur on an animal's skin). And the grassland ecosystem, depends on herbivores to take down the trees that prevent grass growth. So if we take down trees and bring the animals back, the grass will come back.
The second factor is the thick sheet of ice that is formed on the surface in the winter. The underlying permafrost, that was heated throughout the summer gets a chance to loose heat in the winter. But the thick layer of surface ice acts as a blanket(ice is a wonderful insulator of heat), keeping the permafrost warm and melting it more. The hooves of the animals are proven to trample through the surface ice blanket, exposing the permafrost to the cold winter and helping it freeze.
Here is how it works.
Even in the Arctic Circle, there is a growing season, where sun shines and plants can grow. Above the permanently frosted PERMAFROST lies a thin layer of active soil. On this soil plants grow through the summer. When the winter comes and it starts to snow, this layer will also be frozen from above, and the plants cease to grow. The herbivores can make it through the winter, and when the summer comes around, it's time to feast again.
Currently, there are two main factors, accelerating the permafrost melt down.
One is the type of vegetation on the active layer. The tall trees, retain more heat, than the short grass (just like the fur on an animal's skin). And the grassland ecosystem, depends on herbivores to take down the trees that prevent grass growth. So if we take down trees and bring the animals back, the grass will come back.
The second factor is the thick sheet of ice that is formed on the surface in the winter. The underlying permafrost, that was heated throughout the summer gets a chance to loose heat in the winter. But the thick layer of surface ice acts as a blanket(ice is a wonderful insulator of heat), keeping the permafrost warm and melting it more. The hooves of the animals are proven to trample through the surface ice blanket, exposing the permafrost to the cold winter and helping it freeze.
The Hard Evidence
Sergey Zimov and his son Nikita Zimov have dedicated the past two decades of their lives to testing the Pleistocene park.
In the 16sqkm of land that they got from the government, they set up a well fenced park. They take down trees with a soviet army tank (for the sake of environment) and get herbivores (like oxen, elk, moose) from nearby areas to live in the park filled with grass.
They take down measurements to know how the permafrost beneath the park is behaving, in contrast to the permafrost around it. And what we found is that the park really does indeed slow down permafrost melting. *Surprise, surprise*.
In the 16sqkm of land that they got from the government, they set up a well fenced park. They take down trees with a soviet army tank (for the sake of environment) and get herbivores (like oxen, elk, moose) from nearby areas to live in the park filled with grass.
They take down measurements to know how the permafrost beneath the park is behaving, in contrast to the permafrost around it. And what we found is that the park really does indeed slow down permafrost melting. *Surprise, surprise*.
But...Where is the Mammoth?
Yeah, so the mammoth is still in the making. As you would have guessed, it's not that easy to bring back an extinct species to life.
But, there is considerable progress. The best way to make a mammoth, they found, is to take an elephant to the aaka*h academy and *educate* it till it cracks the mammoth entrance exam.
NOOOOOOO. That is not how it works.
But, it's kind of similar. They decided to take an elephant and encourage it to be a mammoth.
But, there is considerable progress. The best way to make a mammoth, they found, is to take an elephant to the aaka*h academy and *educate* it till it cracks the mammoth entrance exam.
NOOOOOOO. That is not how it works.
But, it's kind of similar. They decided to take an elephant and encourage it to be a mammoth.
They sequenced the entire genome of mammoth from the well preserved remnants. And they seperated 25 crucial genes that seperate the present day elephant from the mammoths. Using , you guessed it right, CRISPR, they plan to introduce them into an elephant embryo.
Once the embryo takes up those genes, they will grow it in an artificial womb till it becomes a "mammoth" or atleast a "mammathoid elephant".
Hey, as long as it takes down trees, tramples the ice and looks cute, no one cares whether it's the original or not.
Once the embryo takes up those genes, they will grow it in an artificial womb till it becomes a "mammoth" or atleast a "mammathoid elephant".
Hey, as long as it takes down trees, tramples the ice and looks cute, no one cares whether it's the original or not.
Some say the entire park is just an excuse to bring back the adorable woolly mammoths. But hey who complains?
A Little Hope
So that is where we currently stand. Far far away, the ice that covers 20% of earth surface is slowly melting, igniting a carbon bomb.
As the youngest Zimov rightly says in her school project, both her father and grandfather are fighting a lone battle to diffuse it. Their funding is from the climate scientists that visit their research centre to test the hypothesis and learn how it works.
But they know that a 16sq km park is not gonna be of significant impact. What we really need is the entire uninhabited arctic tundra to be turned into a Pleistocene park. And to do that, we definitely need a *mammoth* leap in synthetic biology.
And if you think this story lacks spectators, you are mistaken. Great political and economical powerholders, who benefit from the current economic system that is causing the climate change, are just reduced to spectators when it comes to mitigating the damage.
But few still give us hope, the hope of a future for the humans, and more importantly, the hope of a human worth the future.
As the youngest Zimov rightly says in her school project, both her father and grandfather are fighting a lone battle to diffuse it. Their funding is from the climate scientists that visit their research centre to test the hypothesis and learn how it works.
But they know that a 16sq km park is not gonna be of significant impact. What we really need is the entire uninhabited arctic tundra to be turned into a Pleistocene park. And to do that, we definitely need a *mammoth* leap in synthetic biology.
And if you think this story lacks spectators, you are mistaken. Great political and economical powerholders, who benefit from the current economic system that is causing the climate change, are just reduced to spectators when it comes to mitigating the damage.
But few still give us hope, the hope of a future for the humans, and more importantly, the hope of a human worth the future.
Nikita Zimov presenting the results of his Pleistocene Park
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