Sébastien Le Belzic (correspondent in China) / Photo credit: SUN FEI / XINHUA / XINHUA VIA AFP
modified to
07:33, June 07, 2023
Chinese scientists are concerned about melting glaciers in the Himalayan mountain range. A phenomenon caused by global warming and which could release several thousand viruses and bacteria, some of which can prove fatal to humans.
Will melting ice in the Himalayas bring forth the successor to Covid-19? In any case, it is the fear of several Chinese scientists who are sounding the alarm. Because the phenomenon, attributable to climate change, could release several thousand viruses and bacteria which could prove fatal for humans. And thus cause new pandemics.
A giant freezer
The researchers have thus unearthed, on an animal carcass in a glacier in the Himalayas, a virus which is still highly pathogenic. The next pandemic could therefore come from this melting of the ice if nothing is done to prevent it. “The only way to stop this would be to have a cooler climate than it does now, but that won’t happen for a long time and it would take a lot of effort from the human race to get there,” says epidemiologist Ted. scambos.
At more than 6,500 meters in altitude, the Himalayan ice acts like a giant freezer that keeps an exceptional quantity of microbes, bacteria and viruses cold. This ecosystem has not evolved for tens of thousands of years, but global warming and melting ice are changing everything. More than 4,000 viruses and bacteria have thus been identified on the roof of the world.