Melting glaciers may release ancient microorganisms, virologist explains

As climate change causes prehistoric glaciers to melt, microorganisms that have been trapped in the ice for thousands of years can be released from its depths. This process has recently drawn heightened public attention in connection with a tragic event in Nepal.

The question of what is truly hidden beneath ancient layers of snow and ice tends to evoke associations with science-fiction films, in which thawing awakens dangerous viruses and humanity faces a new pandemic. However, fiction and reality do not always align — virologist Kaspars Tārs offers an explanation of how well-founded such concerns actually are.

Science versus imagination

The question of microorganisms frozen inside glaciers is not new among scientists, but it has become more prominent for the wider public specifically in connection with the events in Nepal. Kaspars Tārs explains what such a process involves and why melting glaciers attract researchers' attention.

Currently available information about the specific case in Nepal is limited, but it has served as a trigger for a broader discussion about the possible side effects of climate change — namely, that melting glaciers may be linked not only to rising sea levels or ecosystem changes, but also to microbiological processes that have been "frozen" in time for millennia.