Climate change, water skiing in the Arctic. 'June the hottest month ever'

"Here the maximum was 31 degrees. It's not unusual. But for July, not for June." Nikita Zimov is the director of the Pleistocene Park, a multifaceted scientific experiment beyond the Siberian arctic circle, a few kilometers from the Chersky settlement. Seeing him do water skiing in Kolyma, one of the great Russian rivers that crosses the Yakutia to flow into the Arctic Ocean takes effect. "It was too hot, you couldn't do anything else," he tells ANSA. In short, a year after our trip to the roof of the world (see here) the Pleistocene Park and the NESS research station continue to be a frontier in the fight against climate change. With one more difficulty (not to miss anything). That's right, Covid-19.

"We haven't had any actual infections here," he explains. "But coronavirus is having a huge economic impact on the research station and the park. This year we will have virtually no international visitors." That is the main form of income for the research project of the Zimov, father and son. "Of course, we can count on last year's reserves. Then we have fixed funding. But I'm afraid I'll have to sell an apartment in Novosibirsk and maybe give Kalmukia cows away." Which means reducing the efficiency of the park. The thesis of the Zimovs - especially father Serghei, a visionary scholar who predicted the devastating impact on the climate of the melting of permafrost years ago - is that large herbivores, as they existed in the Pleistocene, are able to keep emissions under control of greenhouse gas through the landscaping of the arctic regions, invaded by trees only with the death of megafauna due to the work of homo sapiens. Animals in hand, they repopulated a large area of ​​the Arctic circle. And the data confirmed the theory: in the Park there is less heat loss, the permafrost remains colder and, ultimately, climate change is contained. Everything in a natural way.

However, the park does not receive public funding. Everything is based on the goodwill of the Zimovs. So Nikita. What is its main drive belt. "Despite everything, I'm trying to keep the business going," he says. "I am planning an expedition to the island of Wrangel this autumn to introduce the musk ox. Recently I returned from Magadan, where I purchased a new boat (actually used) which I think can transport 6-7 specimens from Wrangel to the Park" . The bigger the animals, the better. One of the many wonders of the park is the possible return of mammoths. Thanks to cloning. It looks like science fiction at Jurassic Park but instead there are those who are really working on it: the American geneticist George Church. Who promised the Zimov the first specimens resulting from his work. "When my technology was used to read ancient DNA (Neanderthal and Mammoth) around 2006, we were asked if we could 'write' as well as read," explains Church in an interview with ANSA. "Looking at the species choices, mammoth seemed the most suitable for the effects on carbon retention: the elfers are unique among herbivores in felling trees and thus allowing the grass to return. Serghei Zimov and his son Nikita were pioneers in the conception and implementation of this project ".

The times, if all goes well, will not even be biblical. "It took us five years with the pigs. The project for cold-resistant elephants will be slower because the gestation period of the elephants is 22 months instead of 4 months, and the sexual maturity at 11-14 years instead of six months for pigs. So we won't know when. But probably more than 2 years to the first embryonic milestone and over 15 years to verify the viability of the second generation. " Meanwhile, the Pleistocene Park awaits. And try to find new forms of livelihood. Nikita recently launched a campaign on Patreon to find donors. With some success, however. At the moment, in fact, 194 people have signed up for a total of $ 2,537 a month. "Most Patreon supporters subscribe for $ 5-10 a month. Only one person decided to contribute more than $ 100 a month. I think half of the supporters are from Europe and the other half from America. "explains Nikita. "Of course I was hoping for more subscribers but the sum we are currently collecting is already quite good. It does not cover all the management costs of the park and of course it does not help to develop it but in this difficult year any help is welcome." 

The idea is therefore simple: who can, give a hand. Everything happens in a transparent and traceable way (Nikita is very active on social networks). The time available to us to slow down global warming, according to all experts, is running out. And just in recent days the head of the Russian meteorological service Roman Vilfand has launched yet another alarm, revealing that Russia broke all the heat records in the first six months of the year - also warning that, in the month of July, they will be able to be "dangerous weather events". Vilfand also predicted a hot summer. "With a 99% chance it will be among the hottest five years," he said. Come on, in Chersky, as every year now, the signs are not the best. "This winter has been OK in terms of temperature and amount of snow," says Nikita. "However, we had the most premature ice break on the river and June was probably the warmest month ever. There were about 10 days heat without rain, with two forest fires near the station due to drought. The permafrost still holds. But it is only the beginning of summer: we will see what will happen in the autumn ".