The Batagaika Crater, also known as the “gateway to hell,” is not actually… a crater. It is the largest thermal karst (thermocrest) in the world, formed in an area of permafrost.
How do thermokarsts form? The pattern is simple – when temperatures rise, ice that has stood for many years begins to melt, revealing unusual formations. Of course, deforestation is also taking its toll, and this has accelerated around the Batagajka crater, especially in the 1960s. All this led to the collapse of the ground.
There are thousands of thermal karsts in the Arctic, of which Siberia is a part. The Batagaika crater is obviously the largest of them.
When permafrost melts, all the animals and plants frozen in it begin to decompose, releasing carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere. These are greenhouse gases that absorb solar heat radiating from the Earth’s surface, trap it in the atmosphere, and prevent it from escaping into space. This leads to an even greater increase in global temperature, which in turn accelerates the melting of permafrost.
This vicious circle can have tragic consequencesbecause – as Business Insider writes – permafrost covers 15% of the surface of the northern hemisphere and contains 1.7 billion tons of organic carbon, including the aforementioned methane and carbon dioxide. This is a climate bomb, After all, as a result of the melting of permafrost, by 2100 as many greenhouse gases could enter the atmosphere as a large industrialized country could emit.
However, this is still a process shrouded in mystery. The portal highlights that the study of extreme locations, such as the Batagaika crater, could help scientists understand permafrost melting and… predict the future.
