Thawing of permafrost due to climate change could expose the Arctic population to much greater concentrations of the cancer-causing gas Radon, a new story has found.
Thawing of permafrost due to climate change could expose the Arctic population to much greater concentrations of the cancer-causing gas Radon, a new story has found.
Professor Paul Glover and his co-authors suggest that permafrost has historically acted as a protective barrier, blocking radon from travelling to the surface and entering buildings there.
Radon is an invisible, odourless, naturally occurring radioactive gas. It causes approximately one in 10 lung cancer deaths and affects smokers much more than non-smokers. It causes higher death rates in sub-Arctic communities due to the prevalence of smoking.
Their study, published today in the AGU journal Earth’s Future, modelled radon production, its flow through soil, permafrost and model buildings – including those with sub-surface and surface basements and those built, more traditionally, on piles.
Read more at University of Leeds
