Great, Global Warming Is Melting Russian Lakes, Unearthing 'Zombie Viruses' From Prehistoric Times
Hope everyone kept that toilet paper from the early days of COVID, because it appears our next pandemic - warmly dubbed the 'Zombie Virus' - is on deck.
Congrats!
Thanks to that pesky Global Warming, lakes in Russia that have been frozen for 50,000 years are apparently defrosting, and scientists fear there could be some NASTY stuff at the bottom.
Sort of like when you clean out your fridge and find some hidden leftovers at the very back from six months ago.
Except this time, those leftovers are "revived cellular microbes (prokaryotes, unicellular eukaryotes) as well as viruses that remained dormant since prehistorical times" that can turn into harmful 'zombie viruses.'
At least that's what one yet-to-be peer-reviewed paper released earlier this month.
"Due to climate warming, irreversibly thawing permafrost is releasing organic matter frozen for up to a million years, most of which decomposes into carbon dioxide and methane, further enhancing the greenhouse effect," writes microbiologist Jean-Marie Alempic.
Hope everyone is ready for the Zombie Virus. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
'Zombie Virus' called Pandoravirus found in Russian lake
See, this is why we need to take climate change seriously, people. I've seen the Walking Dead (back when it was actually good), and I have no interest in that post-apocalyptic world.
You think society is divided now? Just wait until this next pandemic has zombies roaming the streets and lunatics forming colonies in the woods. Nope. Don't like that.
Jean-Michel Claverie, a professor and co-author of the study, has apparently also issued a warning to medical authorities about the lack of significant updates on “live” viruses in permafrost over the past decade.
"This wrongly suggests that such occurrences are rare and that ‘zombie viruses’ are not a public health threat,” the paper warns.
Not to worry ... researches overseas are on the case!
This is why we should take climate change seriously! (Photo by Ivan Kalinin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Scientists have already started to revive some of these “zombie viruses” from the Siberian permafrost. The oldest strain they found - called Pandoravirus yedoma after the character Pandora - was 48,500 years old.
That, for those wondering, is most definitely a record age for a frozen virus returning to a state where it has the potential to infect other organisms.
So there you have it! If you had "Pandoravirus" as the next pandemic on your bingo card, come right up!
Apparently, researchers found this bad boy at the bottom of a lake in Yukechi Alas in Yakutia, Russia. This isn't the first time they've stumbled upon it, either.
The Pandoravirus has also been found in mammoth fur AND the intestines of a Siberian wolf.
Seems like something we probably don't wanna mess with. I don't know much about extinction, but I'm pretty sure woolly mammoths have been donezo for like 10,000 years. Not sure if we wanna follow that same path.
Anyway, there you have it. Russian lakes are melting and a zombie virus named after Pandora is on the way. Somebody get Tony Fauci on the phone, pronto!
Happy Holidays.