Ancient Organisms Have Been Sleeping Beneath the Arctic for 40,000 Years—and Now They’re Waking Up

By Darren Orf – Popular Mechanics

Just like in John Carpenter’s 1982 horror classic The Thing, scientists are exploring the planet’s frozen permafrost to unearth ancient beings. While these organisms are (thankfully) much different than the shape-shifting monster that decimated Kurt Russell’s Antarctic crew, they bring with them a similar sense of doom. Because if these microbes—some of which are around 40,000 years old—ever wake up due to warming Arctic temperatures, they may start pumping carbon dioxide and methane into an atmosphere already choked with greenhouse gasses.