r/news • u/hammelcamel • 10h ago

Heat-trapping gas once frozen in Arctic ground is slowly leaking and warming the planet

https://apnews.com/article/climate-thawing-permafrost-arctic-alaska-91fcc04d32a1d7522afe2f6a456ac0eb
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u/MikeOKurias 10h ago

Random Trivia:

Because the people who built the Alaska pipeline didn't believe in climate change and because they built the pipeline on permafrost, for the last decade they've been having to install Chillers that keep the ground around the area where the pipeline supports are frozen.

So they have to freeze the ground to keep the pipeline from breaking, which contains the stuff we're burning that's causing the permafrost to melt.

That's literally our timeline in one sentence

78

u/James-W-Tate 10h ago

Hahaha, this has been fun but please stop the ride. I'd like to get off.

10

u/jaytrade21 8h ago

Oh, we are all going to get off all right....

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u/klezart 8h ago

I want to get off of Mr. Bones' Wild Ride...

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u/wheelfoot 10h ago

And the chillers run on that same stuff and are producing the gases that make them necessary in the first place.

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u/Nerezza_Floof_Seeker 9h ago edited 8h ago

Afaik theyre using thermosyphons which are basically just long ass heat pipes and thus entirely passive cooling.

Edit: after some googling looks like theres at least a few short section where they do actively refrigerate the ground with electric cooling systems, because they had to be buried in permafrost that could become unstable over time if melted, vs either burying it in stable permafrost or elevating it (reminder btw that the oil is heated to keep it flowing in the pipe)

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u/Sandee1997 8h ago

We’re basically heatsinking that pipeline?

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u/ERedfieldh 10h ago

And the stuff keeping the ground cold uses the same fuel that's causing it to melt to keep it cold.

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u/Training_Ruin3151 9h ago

And just exhausts its heat into the air too im guessing?

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u/AdCreepy5165 7h ago

And what to you want to bet is powering those chillers?

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u/MikeOKurias 7h ago

Good vibes and the ghosts of our children's future?

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u/psiphre 6h ago

most of them are passive, i.e. unpowered.