Climate Change: Thawing ice and _______?

As northern glaciers and permafrost continue to melt, I can't help but wonder just what has been on ice for the last few hundred, few thousand or even few hundred thousand years.

So far I've read scattered reports of the thawing of everything from ancient footgear to fields of extinct plants. But having been raised on cheezy sci-fi films like The Thing, my thoughts turn to deadlier detritus, like ancient microbes. Given that life forms such as the water bear (tardigrade) can survive freezing temperatures, we can't rule out the possibility that somewhere in the Artic there are critters that will thaw, give a stretch and a yawn, then start exploring the world again.

Speculation, comments and outrageous theories are welcome....

Lots of it. It's a great Green House gas. Maybe unleashing that will be enough of a monster.

.

because that will release millions of tons of methane into the air and accelerate warming beyond anything we could have done. One of the last great species die offs happened the last time it thawed.

:sarcasm:

I'm very much aware of the methane issue in both melting permafrost and in the methane clathrates. But can't help but wonder if there will be any interesting twists before the Great Extinction renders the entire issue moot.

Rinji news o moshiagemasu!
Godzilla ga ginza hoomen e mukatte imasu!
Daishkyu hinan shite kudasai!
Daishkyu hinan shite kudasai!

Yeah, I've wondered about ancient microbes myself. Anything bigger? I'm more doubtful.

Although I'd say the bigger the critter, the better for us. Microbes are dangerous, whereas tardigrades or ice worms or some such critters are less likely to do serious damage of any kind.

...it might be very useful. Doubt that there is anything THAT old frozen away, but who knows.

I wonder if Retardigrades will go to FreeRepublic...

(sorry)

:D

:hide: Ancient scourge -- with or without the ancient curse to go along with it -- makes me reach for the :popcorn:

wonder when we'll find out?

Boomer's idea of "light reading" runs along the lines of "Rats, Lice and History". My version is the World Weekly News and the further adventures of the BatBoy from WV.

Yeah, I'd worry about the critters that may be in there, too. But more worrisome is the spread of insects population, including those carrying disease, as we become more like South America climate-wise. That and this guy here says we're poking our nose into biospheres we usually do not, and picking up a lot of microbe load as a result:

http://adamscountywa.com/washington-books/free.php?in=us&asin=0316763063