Is the horror of the "Creature From the Black Lagoon" in our future? As our planet warms and our glaciers melt, the world that is now locked away in permafrost will come alive. They’ll be tiny, so they won’t be obviously menacing, but they WILL start churning out greenhouse gases, making global warming worse.
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When it comes to climate change, the answer is probably "no." Unknowncountry.com’s Climate Watch warned that extreme summer ice melt this year will be accompanied by methane outgassing that will, in turn, send global temperatures much higher over the next few years than global warming models predict. This appears to be happening.
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The Arctic is melting, but not everyone is worried–in fact, it’s opening up large reserves of oil and minerals that are causing a "cold rush" by various countries who want to mine the area. It may even lead to a new "cold war:" The US recently dispatched two nuclear-powered submarines out to patrol 150 miles north of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, where the Chinese are eager to search for oil. This move comes at a time when Russia has increased missile testing in the region and Norway has moved its main military base to the far north.
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A study of hailstones has found large numbers of bacteria at their cores. It turns out that the bacteria help create the snow and hail, since their coating of protein causes water to freeze at relatively warm temperatures. In fact, bacteria works so well that it’s used in snow-making machines.
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