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Welcome to Pleistocene Park
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Welcome to Pleistocene Park

In Arctic Siberia, Russian scientists are trying to stave off catastrophic climate change – by resurrecting an Ice Age biome complete with lab-grown woolly mammoths.

Ross Andersen
The Atlantic, 2017
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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Scientific
  • Eye Opening

Recommendation

For this scientific essay, Ross Anderson, senior editor at The Atlantic, treks through Siberia with Nikita Zimov, the director of Pleistocene Park. The goal of Zimov's project is to stall climate change by restoring the Mammoth Steppe grasslands ecosystem. One item is still on the to-do list: Resurrect the woolly mammoth. Anderson writes a compelling and objective evaluation of this fantastically ambitious project and the determined actors behind it. getAbstract predicts you will be astonished, concerned and awed – all at the same time.

Take-Aways

  • In 1996, Nikita Zimov founded Pleistocene Park with the goal of slowing down the thaw of the Beringia permafrost across Siberia, Alaska and the Canadian Yukon.
  • Thawing of the Beringia permafrost would cause the release of large amounts of carbon dioxide and methane.
  • The open space of grasslands reflects more sunlight. The resulting lower heat absorption allows the permafrost to reach deeper and melt more slowly.

About the Author

Ross Andersen is a senior editor at The Atlantic, where supervises the Science, Technology and Health sections.

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