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Meltwater from glaciers and ice caps could ferry harmful pathogens along streams, rivers, and other important waterways, potentially exposing humans to new microbes, the researchers report.

But ice isn't the only thing that's melting. Thawing permafrost, a frozen layer of earth found in high latitudes and at elevation, creates its own unique set of challenges. Gases like methane and carbon dioxide, which have been trapped in the long-frozen earth, are being released into the atmosphere at alarming rates. Permafrost houses twice as much carbon than what's currently found in the atmosphere, climate change scientist Sue Natali of the Woods Hole Research Center told the BBC.

In recent years, researchers have pulled samples of smallpox, Spanish flu, bubonic plague, and even anthrax from thawing permafrost. Scientists have also found harmful pollutants, such as mercury , trapped in the reservoirs beneath Alaskan permafrost. And then there's the structural damages associated with the thawing permafrost. Swedish Nuclear Waste Management, a company that stores Sweden, Finland, and Canada's spent nuclear fuel atop permafrost, has joined other norther facilities to address future thawing.

Any slumping or sagging could potentially jeopardize the structural integrity of the agency's nuclear waste containment system. Countless other buildings and even Alaskan cemeteries!

In , the Svalbard Global Seed Vault , a massive plant seed repository on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, flooded after the permafrost on which it was built began to sag. 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.

For guidance on face coverings, visit the CDC. Wash your hands - Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after you have been in a public place, or after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing. Clean and disinfect - This includes tables, doorknobs, light switches, countertops, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets, and sinks.

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