Lots of Stuff Happens As Ice Melts on Earth–And None of It Is Good

What happens as the Earth warms? Well, farmland turns to desert, storms worsen, the sea level rises (as 24 cubic miles of ice melts every year in the Antarctic alone), and the oceans lose their capacity to support most animal life.  What could be worse? 

Actually, it’s hard to know which of the many consequences of global warming will inflict the most damage on our civilization.  But here’s one major upshot that doesn’t get too much ink: the release of numerous strains of pathogenic bacteria that had long been sequestered in the rapidly melting ice.  Here’s a BBC article on the subject.