En 2015 déjà, une équipe de chercheurs français avait découvert un virus géant v… The World's Largest Virus Was Just Resurrected From 34,000-Year-Old Permafrost, even after 30,000 years of being frozen in the ground, at least one strain has been known to infect humans, Storms Reveal Two Historic Shipwrecks on England's Eastern Coast, Women Dominated Beer Brewing Until They Were Accused of Being Witches, Explore 200 Years of Tattoo History With This New Book, How Scientist Jennifer Doudna Is Leading the Next Technological Revolution. La fonte des glaces polaires est la première conséquence visible du dérèglement climatique.Mais derrière les blocs de glaces qui tombent dans l'océan, se cache une réalité aux conséquences potentiellement catastrophiques : la fonte du permafrost. While scientists have discovered a seemingly endless series of terrifying plagues, diseases, and chemicals in thawing permafrost and melting ice, there's a very, very thin silver lining. "If we are not careful, and we industrialise these areas without putting safeguards in place, we run the risk of one day waking up viruses such as small pox that we thought were eradicated.". Get the best of Smithsonian magazine by email. While most discovered giant viruses exclusively target amoebas, at least one strain has been known to infect humans. Le réchauffement climatique est à l'origine de la fonte du permafrost qui recouvre 25% des terres émergées. Keep up-to-date on: © 2021 Smithsonian Magazine. Epidemics of smallpox, zika virus, and dengue season may soon arrive further up the Northern hemisphere as conditions become suitable for the Aedes aegypti. The permafrost … If you click “Agree and Continue” below, you acknowledge that your cookie choices in those tools will be respected and that you otherwise agree to the use of cookies on NPR’s sites. Melting it risks accelerating global warming even further. Sa superficie est estimée entre 10 et 15 millions de mètres carrés (entre 20 et 30 fois la superficie de la France). Across the permafrost — which covers an area twice the size of the U.S. — there are tens of thousands of bodies preserved in the frozen soil. A l'époque, la carcasse gelée d'un animal tué par la bactérie se couvre peu à peu d'une fine couche de permafrost, qui ne tue pas l'anthrax mais le plonge dans un profond sommeil. See details. Une hibernation qui aurait pu se prolonger enc… Danny is based in Brooklyn, NY. “This is a theoretical possibility, but in the absence of any evidence that this might be dangerous, I think we should worry about the viruses that could jump out of mammals on Earth right now,” Vincent Racaniello, a virologist at Columbia University tells Chris Mooney for The Washington Post. Researchers have also discovered viruses never before recorded, like the recently christened “pandoraviruses,” lurking in the permafrost.Pandoraviruses are a type of giant virus … Certains sont inopérants, ou inoffensifs. It's thought a heat wave thawed permafrost there, releasing the bacteria. Continue Claverie and Abergel were intrigued when they heard that a group of Russian scientists had managed to revive a seed found buried in the permafrost since the Late Pleistocene era. For tens of thousands of years the Siberian permafrost has locked away relics of the past, from wooly mammoth bones to seeds. Danny Lewis is a multimedia journalist working in print, radio, and illustration. You can adjust your cookie choices in those tools at any time. La fonte du permafrost, ou pergélisol, une couche de glace profonde qui existe dans l'Arctique, pourrait faire ressortir des virus enfouis dans la glace depuis plusieurs milliers d'années. Privacy Statement First Vial Used in U.S. Covid-19 Vaccinations Joins the Smithsonian Collections, Polar Bears Live on the Edge of the Climate Change Crisis, Inside Naples' World-Famous Pizza Culture, How Navajo Physicians Are Battling the Covid-19 Pandemic. Most common viruses are incredibly tiny and typically only have about four genes or so, not even enough to be considered “alive” in the same way as a bacterium or a human cell. Vote for the Readers' Choice winner of the 18th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest, The Distinctive ‘Habsburg Jaw’ Was Likely the Result of the Royal Family’s Inbreeding, Watch First Time-Lapse Footage of a Rare Moonflower Cactus Blossoming, How Samuel Mudd Went From Lincoln Conspirator to Medical Savior, Five Things to Know About Queen Charlotte. Or, ce sol gelé recèle une bonne quantité de substances néfastes qui pourraient menacer l’écosystème et l’humanité. NPR’s sites use cookies, similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about the device you use to access our sites (together, “cookies”) to enhance your viewing, listening and user experience, personalize content, personalize messages from NPR’s sponsors, provide social media features, and analyze NPR’s traffic. The fact that they are still viable after such an immense period of time raises concerns for Claverie and Abergel that melting permafrost and Siberian mining operations could unleash more harmful pathogens, Byrne writes. At the end of the day, there is no immediate danger from these ancient viruses, although it might be worth keeping an eye on anything else that comes out of the permafrost. Ainsi le Mollivirus sibericum, virus géant de 30 000 ans, réactivé récemment par des scientifiques. Melting permafrost in the Arctic is unearthing diseases and destroying landscapes. … Give a Gift. A posteriori, l'histoire est facile à reconstituer. Another possible side effect of permafrost loss is that thawing remains of long-dead animals could release dormant diseases. As climate change contributes to rising global temperatures, scientists are digging up more and more finds that used to be unreachable through the frozen earth – including several kinds of giant viruses. But despite the drama of these discoveries, other researchers say that people should be less worried about the possibility of finding pathogens in the permafrost. More than 20 people were recently sickened by anthrax in Siberia. Neanderthal-Era Virus Found Surviving in Permafrost Scientists have revived the world’s largest known virus from a piece of Siberian permafrost over 30,000 years old. Even so, now that this virus has been revived from the permafrost, so too could potentially harmful pathogens, possibly including viruses humans have never encountered before, the … Advertising Notice "A few viral particles that are still infectious may be enough, in the presence of a vulnerable host, to revive potentially pathogenic viruses," Claverie tells AFP. Selon les zones, la profondeur de cette couche varie : de quelques mètres à environ un kilomètre dans certains points de la Sibérie où le pergélisol se maintient alors depuis des millions d'ann… “Every once in a while, we see them die and that's when we know somebody must be killing them," Claverie tells Christensen. Fonte du permafrost. The discovery of a previously unknown "giant virus" from 30,000 years ago in the Siberian permafrost is bringing researchers closer to understanding the complexity of viruses. Some of these people died of smallpox. or Was This Helmet Worn by an Ancient Greek Soldier During the Persian Wars? Sometimes as big as bacteria, giant viruses have much more genetic material, anywhere from hundreds to thousands of genes, Michael Byrne writes for Vice Motherboard. Le pergélisol est un vaste territoire. Cookie Policy An ancient virus has "come back to life" after lying dormant for at least 30,000 years, scientists say. As that permafrost melts, it could unleash potentially deadly pathogens. Wondering what else they might find, the husband-and-wife team began to probe the Russian sample, using amoebas as bait for any viruses that might have survived the deep freeze, Jen Christensen writes for CNN. D’autres ont déjà prouvé leur virulence. At the end of the day, there is no immediate danger from these ancient viruses, although it might be worth keeping an eye on anything else that comes out of the permafrost. Researchers say thawing permafrost could release dangerous pathogens. On trouve du pergélisol au nord du Canada et de l'Alaska, ainsi qu'au nord de la Sibérie. You may click on “Your Choices” below to learn about and use cookie management tools to limit use of cookies when you visit NPR’s sites. Une importante fonte du permafrost peut avoir diverses conséquences comme la libération de virus retenus prisonniers durant de nombreuses années, pouvant potentiellement contaminer les hommes et les animaux. In 2014, he co-authored a paper describing a 30,000-year-old "giant virus" extracted from Siberian permafrost. A 2016 anthrax outbreak in a remote part of Siberia was blamed on spores of the virus released from a reindeer carcass that had been buried in permafrost for 75 years. This information is shared with social media, sponsorship, analytics, and other vendors or service providers. In the meantime, these relics could give scientists new insights into what life was like tens of thousands of years ago. Thawing permafrost in the Arctic is one more way climate change will directly affect humans. Des chercheurs ont découvert ces dernières années deux types de virus géants, dont l'un vieux de 30.000 ans, conservés dans le permafrost. This ancient virus was discovered 30 meters underground in the permafrost, and woke up in the laboratory after 30,000 years of sleep. There’s ice in there but once it melts, the land remains. Elle débute en 1941, année de la dernière flambée épidémique d'anthrax qu'a connue la région - qui a vu des millions de rennes décimés tout au long du siècle. Un danger sanitaire bien réel se profile : des bactéries géantes et des virus réactivés par le dégel du permafrost. And as the permafrost melts, scientists are finding them more and more frequently. Can You Spread Covid-19 After Getting Vaccinated? Both, according to lead researchers Jean-Michel Claverie and Chantal Abergel, are viable even after 30,000 years of being frozen in the ground. En 2016, un enfant de 12 ans et 2 300 rennes sont morts en Sibérie après avoir été contaminés par de l’anthrax(maladie du charbon). The permafrost, Dr Romanovsky stressed to Unearthed, does not melt.It thaws. Dans cette région, une telle maladie ne s’était pas vue depuis environ 75 ans. As Claverie and Abergel note in the study: "Although no read sequences were close enough to detect known Poxvirus and Herpesvirus isolates in the metagenome of our permafrost sample...we cannot rule out that distant viruses of ancient Siberian human (or animal) populations could reemerge as arctic permafrost layers melt and/or are disrupted by industrial activities.”. He focuses on stories with a health/science bent and has reported some of his favorite pieces from the prow of a canoe. Terms of Use 17th Annual Photo Contest Finalists Announced. According to a new report, a group of microbiologists from several French and Russian institutions have just discovered a second new species of giant virus in a single sample of Siberian permafrost in just two years. Vote Now! Smithsonian Institution. Giant viruses, on the other hand, are a different story. But other viruses could be unleashed as the ground becomes exposed. Depuis plusieurs mois maintenant, le monde lutte contre la pandémie meurtrière de la Covid-19. The permafrost, literally permanent ice, is a special condition of the soil in the most extreme areas of the north of the world. Dangers lurking in the permafrost. Virus oubliés et gaz à effet de serre : une double bombe à retardement mortelle. California Do Not Sell My Info "This way, we know which to isolate from the others.". Vidéo - Depuis quelques années, la fonte du permafrost s’accentue. Fonte du permafrost, un danger pour l'humanité ? Author: In other permafrost cities, 10 to 80 percent of structures are in potentially dangerous states. Dans le permafrost, virus et bactéries attendent le dégel Par Sciences et Avenir avec AFP le 17.08.2016 à 09h00 , mis à jour le 17.08.2016 à 09h00 Lecture 4 min. The French scientists said although tests found that the giant virus can attack some single-celled organisms, it poses no danger to humans or animals. Dans le nord de la planète Terre, une bonne partie des continents est recouverte de permafrost. En parallèle, le réchauffement climatique se poursuit, inexorablement. Thawing permafrost is also a time bomb: There’s more carbon stored in the permafrost than in the atmosphere. Melting permafrost … ENVIRONNEMENT- Réservoirs de virus et de bactéries, de méthane ou de carbone, le permafrost est un véritable danger pour la planète Terre… à condition qu’il fonde.