Climate change and its harmful impact on the Arctic is not unknown. However, the idea of fighting climate change or global warming with hordes of grazing animals is something unheard of before.
A team of scientists has come up with this bizarre plan. As per a CBS News report, the team proposes to fill the Arctic with hordes of grazing animals like reindeer and bison. The idea is to keep the permafrost frozen by trampling it under the weight of these hordes.
As per the team of scientists, this trick alone could save 80 percent of the Arctic¡¯s permafrost until the year 2100.
The sounding reason behind this lies in the equation between the snow and the soil. In the Arctic, the snow that falls on the ground starts acting as a layer of insulation between the soil and the frigid air above it. Due to worsening climate change, that insulation results in the soil¡¯s temperature to rise. Beyond a point, this temperature rise eventually results in the permafrost beginning to thaw.
In a study published in the journal Nature, the animals can help with this. The study mentions that large herbivores like bisons and reindeers disperse the snow insulation as they walk around. In addition, these animals also help stamp down and compact the soil beneath them.
There are, however, still doubts on the feasibility of the study. A simple question that renders it impractical is the scale at which it would have to be applied to attain any significant results.?
¡°Unless the plan is to cover millions of square kilometers with horses, bison and reindeer, how could this possibly have any significant impact?¡± Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the International Arctic Research Center, told CBS.
The increasing climate change is headed towards tipping the Earth to a point of no return. The impact can be seen at almost every point on the planet. The arctic, for instance, was recently found with a 1 million square kilometer wide hole in the Ozone layer. Usually, such occurrences were limited to the south pole.