Permafrost is destroying the Russian economy

This is happening in regions that are critically important for the Russian economy, where the main centers of oil, gas, and other mineral extraction are located.

It is the Russian Arctic regions with permafrost that account for more than half of the entire Arctic territory, and it is there that 10% of Russia's GDP and 20% of its exports are generated, 18% of oil, 90% of natural gas, 90% of nickel and cobalt, 60% of copper, and 100% of diamonds are extracted.

The shortsightedness of Soviet and Russian engineers and builders in designing infrastructure solely based on permafrost led to annual seasonal destruction of structures — almost all Arctic housing (81%) was built here between 1960 and 1999.

More than 40% of buildings in the VM zone are already deformed:

• in Vorkuta — 80%,

• Magadan — 55%,

• Dixon — 35%,

• Tiksi — 22%,

• Yakutsk and Norilsk — 9–10% each.

At the same time, 1,260 km of main gas pipelines and thousands of kilometers of highways are at risk.

By 2050, the population of the territories of the VM in Russia will decrease by 61% compared to 2017 and will amount to 1.7 million people.