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Zombie Fires Burn In World's Coldest Village Despite -60C Temperatures

Zombie Fires Burn In World's Coldest Village Despite -60C Temperatures

Fires continue to burn in Siberian village despite -60C freezing temperatures

Alarming zombie fires are burning near the world’s coldest village at a temperature of minus 60C. Watch below:

Smoke billows non-stop from under the deep snow just two miles from Oymyakon in Siberia, a video shows. 

Thawing permafrost seen as due to climate change means that peat caught fire in spring and summer infernos - and has continued burning ever since. 

Today (9 Dec) a library in Oymyakon - also known as the Pole of Cold - recorded a temperature of minus 60 °C  (minus 76 °F), just 7.7 °C milder than the coldest ever temperature in a permanently inhabited settlement. 

Despite this, the fire continued burning. 

"It was filmed not far from Oymyakon, closer to the village of Khara Tumul [in 3.6 km or 2.2 miles from the world’s coldest settlement],” said local resident and photographerSemyon Sivtsev.

East 2 West

“It was near (summer) grasslands. 

“There were wildfires there in the summer.” 

In some cases, the winter-long fires are extinguished by the snow melt in spring - but not always, and in some areas they continue permanently. 

“Such zombie fires are not so rare,” he said. 

East 2 West

“I know even a case when such zombie peat fires were burning for several years in the area of Mundullakh, not far from Oymyakon.”

Eventually it was extinguished by a combination of snowmelt and heavy rains. 

"As a result, a lake formed in this place four years ago. 

“The peat burns down and is replaced by water. 

East 2 West

“This was also aided by the permafrost thawing and in several recent years we have had heavy rains in summer. 

“Only last summer was relatively dry.”

Such zombie fires can be fuelled by leaking methane as the permafrost - frozen soil - thaws and in some cases are seen as impossible to extinguish. 

East 2 West

Gas locked in the frozen ground for many millennia is suddenly released in areas of peat or brown coal. 

This led to raging wildfires seen by satellite close to Oymyakon in late April with snow still on the ground. 

The lowest officially recorded temperature in Oymyakon was minus 67.7 °C (minus 89.9 °F) in 1933, but locals say an earlier reading was minus 71.2 °C (minus 96.2 °F) in January 1924. 

Cows in the world’s coldest village wear fur or wool-lined bras when thermometers plunge in the Siberian winter. 

Featured Image Credit: East 2 West

Topics: World News