Disease Infected Corpses Popping Up Through the Tundra, Courtesy of Global Warming

Oh. My. Science.

In a scene that sounds like the trailer for a new Eli Roth movie, Live Science describes a headless corpse splayed out on plastic sheeting in a cellar in Siberia. They said it best:

The young bony arms - covered in fine black powder from centuries of immobility in the frozen tundra - are crossed at rest, reminiscent of a ceremonial burial. Camera flashes illuminate the scene. Several dozen scientists stand around the body, murmuring in Russian and English about the find of the day.

As global warming thaws the vast tundra of the high northern latitudes that currently houses a surprising number of possibly smallpox-infected human bodies, scientists worry that an outbreak of the long-dormant disease could be triggered. Smallpox is responsible for the deaths of nearly 300 million people in this frozen land during the 20th century alone, and is hardy enough to still be present in the corpses.

Hey Dubya, and all you others who think that global warming isn’t real… what more can it serve up to get your attention besides frozen corpses full of deadly infectious diseases? If this doesn’t do it for ya, I shudder to think what would have to occur for the light bulb to go off in your collective minds.

Link [Live Science]

Photo: Flickr user Thivierr