Scientist Sergei Zimov takes a sample of ground taken from a layer of melting permafrost on the Duvanny Yar cliff, some 120 km (75 miles) from the town of Chersky in northeast Siberia, August 28, 2007. For millennia, layers of animal waste and other organic matter left behind by the creatures that used to roam the Arctic tundra have been sealed inside the frozen permafrost. Now climate change is thawing the permafrost and lifting this prehistoric ooze from suspended animation. Zimov, a scientist who for almost 30 years has studied climate change in Russia's Arctic, believes that as this organic matter becomes exposed to the air it will accelerate global warming faster than even some of the most pessimistic forecasts. Picture taken August 28, 2007. Reuters Pictures 26 months ago

Scientist Sergei Zimov takes a sample of ground taken from a layer of melting permafrost on the Duvanny Yar cliff, some 120 km (75 miles) from the town of Chersky in northeast Siberia, August 28, 2007. For millennia, layers of animal waste and other organic matter left behind by the creatures that used to roam the Arctic tundra have been sealed inside the frozen permafrost. Now climate change is thawing the permafrost and lifting this prehistoric ooze from suspended animation. Zimov, a scientist who for almost 30 years has studied climate change in Russia's Arctic, believes that as this organic matter becomes exposed to the air it will accelerate global warming faster than even some of the most pessimistic forecasts. Picture taken August 28, 2007.

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