‘Two New Holes Mysteriously Appear in Siberia’ http://t.co/I4IJUNBZk4 #headlinesyoudidn‘tseeintimemagazinebeforetheinternet

— Robert Wright (@robertwrighter) July 29, 2014

This tweet of author Robert Wright that I shared linked to a TIME magazine story about mysterious craters in Siberia, and an aerial video view of the holes in the earth.

Later, I read another story, in ThinkProgress, suggesting that the emergence of these holes in the earth may well be the result of permafrost melting in the Arctic tundra, auguring an accompanying release of tons of methane gas, a worrisome development that if correct bodes ill for its effect on the global climate. Here’s a screenshot from the article by Ari Phillips.

The next day, I read Fred Barbash’s Washington Post article about the appearance of huge sea sells in the Arctic Ocean, where only ice has been seen before. These two discoveries leave little doubt in my mind that the coldest places on the planet are warming in ways that are having a dramatic effect on earth and sea.

This can’t be good–“16 foot wave swells reported in once-frozen region of Arctic Ocean,” reports @FBarbash. http://t.co/0erAo3W4kD — Philip Turner (@philipsturner) July 30, 2014

— Philip Turner (@philipsturner) July 30, 2014