"Gateway to Hell" is expanding far too quickly: scientists fear the worst

The discovery took place in 1991, in Siberia. The Batagay crater, nicknamed the "Gateway to Hell", is widening at an alarming rate and threatens the planet.

This mega-subsidence, the largest in the world, is "due to the degradation of permafrost because of rising temperatures and precipitation in the Arctic" states the daily Nice-Matin. And according to the scientists who closely monitor it, its evolution doesn't bode well.

The crater is widening at a worrying speed, releasing different greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, contributing, at the same time, to global warming. The crevasse lives up to its name "Gateway to Hell". While it measured 790 metres wide ten years ago, it is now 200 metres wider, at 990 m, reports Sciences et Vie, relayed by Nice-Matin.

Underestimated figures

“As it subsides, the Batagay crater exposes layers of permafrost that had been frozen for thousands of years. This represents a volume of one million cubic metres per year” since 2014. Figures that could even be underestimated, the scientific community reports.

On one hand, global warming causes and leads to an accelerated melting of permafrost and on the other, the greenhouse gases released contribute to rising temperatures. A vicious circle indeed.

However, researchers note that if the crater continues to widen, the permafrost maintained within it would be only a few metres thick, limiting its development.

(MH with Raphaël Liset - Source: Nice-Matin - Illustration: ©Unsplash)