Mammoths to save the world?

[Fake Messiah]

As you probably know there is still lots of permafrost in the Arctic and underneath it there are large amounts of methane which is starting to get released more and more due to global warming. Methane is very potent greenhouse gas and there is more carbon in permafrost than is in the Earth’s atmosphere today, so once that gets released it's pretty much game over for most of humans. There will be droughts which means food shortage and so on.

Apparently in Russia, scientist Sergey Zimov, believes that re-populating the Arctic with herds of large herbivores is the world’s last hope to prevent disastrous permafrost melting and runaway climate change. He's already populated it with horses, bisons, muskox, moose and some other animals thus creating "Pleistocene Park". He also needs mammoths, because they knock down trees and help the grass grow, which is apparently better to preserve permafrost from not melting.

In any case does this sound desperate?

[downbeatplumb]

As you probably know there is still lots of permafrost in the Arctic and underneath it there are large amounts of methane which is starting to get released more and more due to global warming. Methane is very potent greenhouse gas and there is more carbon in permafrost than is in the Earth’s atmosphere today, so once that gets released it's pretty much game over for most of humans. There will be droughts which means food shortage and so on.

Apparently in Russia, scientist Sergey Zimov, believes that re-populating the Arctic with herds of large herbivores is the world’s last hope to prevent disastrous permafrost melting and runaway climate change. He's already populated it with horses, bisons, muskox, moose and some other animals thus creating "Pleistocene Park". He also needs mammoths, because they knock down trees and help the grass grow, which is apparently better to preserve permafrost from not melting.

In any case does this sound desperate?

I would imagine Mammoths would fart a bit, so I'm not sure what the benefit would be.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Mammoth over mammon.

[chimp3]

I understand the effect of large herbivores on grassland vs. forest, but what do they have to do with temperature? Elephants do not cool the Serengeti.

[Anomalocaris]

As you probably know there is still lots of permafrost in the Arctic and underneath it there are large amounts of methane which is starting to get released more and more due to global warming. Methane is very potent greenhouse gas and there is more carbon in permafrost than is in the Earth’s atmosphere today, so once that gets released it's pretty much game over for most of humans. There will be droughts which means food shortage and so on.

Apparently in Russia, scientist Sergey Zimov, believes that re-populating the Arctic with herds of large herbivores is the world’s last hope to prevent disastrous permafrost melting and runaway climate change. He's already populated it with horses, bisons, muskox, moose and some other animals thus creating "Pleistocene Park". He also needs mammoths, because they knock down trees and help the grass grow, which is apparently better to preserve permafrost from not melting.

In any case does this sound desperate?

Don't herbivores fart and burp large quantities of methane?

[popeyespappy]

I understand the effect of large herbivores on grassland vs. forest, but what do they have to do with temperature? Elephants do not cool the Serengeti.

Apparently grass is better at insulating the ground and keeping it frozen during the summer months than trees. This guy has confirmed this through observations of ground temperatures. The elephants help turn forests into grasslands.

[chimp3]

I understand the effect of large herbivores on grassland vs. forest, but what do they have to do with temperature? Elephants do not cool the Serengeti.

Apparently grass is better at insulating the ground and keeping it frozen during the summer months than trees. This guy has confirmed this through observations of ground temperatures. The elephants help turn forests into grasslands.

Global warming is the reason the permafrost is melting. Having it warm enough to use elephants to stave off forest succession appears a bit late to me.

[popeyespappy]

Apparently grass is better at insulating the ground and keeping it frozen during the summer months than trees. This guy has confirmed this through observations of ground temperatures. The elephants help turn forests into grasslands.

Global warming is the reason the permafrost is melting. Having it warm enough to use elephants to stave off forest succession appears a bit late to me.

I think the idea is to mitigate the feedback by slowing the release of additional methane. I think they also mentioned that the grass in lighter colored than the trees so it reflects more heat back into space as well as insulating the ground. It isn't supposed to be a cure for global warming. Just something to help slow it down. I don't know if it will work, but it doesn't sound like it would hurt either...

[chimp3]

It would not hurt. Trees and grass would sequester carbon. Obtaining mammoths is a problem. Elephant/ Mammoth hybrids is a cool idea. Apes creating new species.

[brewer]

Giant lemmings.