Arctic methane emissions permafrost thawing. Near the bottom of the first sinkhole, air contained unusually high concentrations of methane, according to tests conducted by the researchers. This hypothesis points to the destabilization of gas hydrates containing huge amounts of methane gas. According to researchers at Norway's Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate (CAGE), through a process called geothermal heat flux, the Siberian permafrost which extends to the seabed of the Kara Sea, a section of the Arctic Ocean between the Yamal Peninsula and Novaya Zemlya, is thawing. According to a CAGE researcher, Aleksei Portnov, Methane hydrate is leaking in an area of at least
Arctic lemming Arctic lemming The Arctic lemming ("Dicrostonyx torquatus") is a species of rodents in the family Cricetidae. Although generally classified as a "least concern" species, the Novaya Zemlya subspecies "(Dicrostonyx torquatus ungulatus)" is considered a vulnerable species under Russian nature conservation legislation (included in Red Book of Russian Federation since 1998). It is found only in the Arctic biomes in the Russian Federation, and it is the commonest mammal on Severnaya Zemlya. Specimens were once found in England, but they are now extirpated. For the most part, lemmings of the genus "Lemmus" can coexist with those of genus "Dicrostonyx". Arctic lemmings