Over the past 30 years, the depth of seasonal thawing of the upper part of permafrost in the Russian Federation has increased from 45 to 70 cm, putting 1,260 km of main gas pipelines and thousands of kilometers of roads at risk. This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service, writes UNN.
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This is happening in regions critical to the Russian economy, where the main centers for oil, gas, and other mineral extraction are located.
In total, permafrost occupies 65% of Russia's territory, and large cities such as Vorkuta, Norilsk, Yakutsk, and Magadan are located in the permafrost zone. Russian Arctic regions with permafrost account for more than half of the entire Arctic territory, and it is there that 10% of Russia's GDP and 20% of its exports are generated, 18% of oil, 90% of natural gas, 90% of nickel and cobalt, 60% of copper, and 100% of diamonds are extracted.
The short-sightedness of Soviet and Russian engineers and builders in designing infrastructure exclusively based on permafrost has led to annual seasonal destruction of structures – almost all Arctic residential development (81%) here was created between 1960 and 1999.
More than 40% of buildings in the permafrost zone are already deformed: in Vorkuta – 80%, Magadan – 55%, Dikson – 35%, Tiksi – 22%, Yakutsk and Norilsk – 9-10% each. At the same time, 1,260 km of main gas pipelines and thousands of kilometers of roads are at risk.
By 2050, the population of permafrost territories in Russia will decrease by 61% compared to 2017 and will amount to 1.7 million people.