Humanity will be threatened if the extremely toxic substance under the Arctic ice layer escapes

Under the giant arctic ice, there is an extremely poisonous substance, if escaped outside all humanity will be threatened.

Imagine the scary scenario when huge reserves in the Arctic escape to the environment? Surely it is a bitter ending.

Believe it, the permafrost in the Arctic is currently storing a huge amount of terrifying mercury, twice the amount of natural mercury the planet has combined. The question is, what if this amount of mercury "escapes" into the environment?

Researchers from the US Geological Survey measured 13 "core samples" of frozen ground in Alaska, USA from 2004 to 2012.

These samples were collected from locations far away from each other, with different soil characteristics, enough for them to represent the entire northern hemisphere. Research results show that up to 793 million kilograms of mercury are trapped in the permafrost of the northern hemisphere since the last ice age.

Scientists warn climate change is melting permafrost.

To make it easier to imagine, let's make a comparison. This amount of mercury is about 10 times the amount of human mercury emissions in the last 30 years and almost double the amount of mercury found in non-freezing lands, in the ocean and the atmosphere.

One question is why the Northern Hemisphere can store such a huge "mercury reservoir". The explanation for this, said Paul Schuster, US geological investigator, is that natural mercury enters the permafrost from the atmosphere . As part of the mercury cycle, mercury vapor in the atmosphere is bound to soil organic matter, then buried by sediment. Over time, this amount of mercury is buried deep in the permafrost.

"There will not be any environmental problems if things are still frozen. However, we all know that the Earth is heating up day by day, leading to melting ice. Melting ice to a certain extent, this amount of mercury can completely be released to the environment , "said Paul.

This finding is a serious warning because if this "released mercury" scenario occurs, it will affect all ecosystems around the world.

If mercury is mixed into water, it can have terrible consequences. Inorganic mercury can be converted into methyl mercury - a powerful poison that causes serious damage to the nervous system.

This map shows the mercury concentration (in micrograms per square meter) at different depths.

Many cases of human methyl mercury poisoning have been reported after they eat fish caught in contaminated waters. Methyl mercury also has a negative effect on the development of infants and young children, and also causes many birth defects.

Steve Sebestyen, a meteorologist at the US Forest Protection Department, said: "This mercury is released into the environment, which will cause enormous consequences because mercury can enter the food chain in nature, causing Great impact on the health of organisms ".

And the worst scenario is that when mercury falls into the atmosphere, it can affect the whole world. The next step in this study is to simulate climate change in order to dissolve the permafrost as well as the worst case scenario - when mercury is released into the environment.

24% of the land area on the equator is permanently frozen soil, and there is a huge mercury pool hidden deep in the soil. What will happen if the ice disappears? How will mercury penetrate the food chain? These are big questions that researchers will probably take a lot of time to answer.

The study is published in Geophysical Research Letters.