KRASNOYARSK, May 17. /TASS/. Russian scientists found that diesels fuel spills in the permafrost conditions are processed by soil microorganisms reducing the contamination process and having an impact on climate change, said press service of the Krasnoyarsk Scientific Center (the Russian Academy of Sciences' Siberian Branch).

"The Center's scientists have found that fuel spills in the permafrost conditions are gradually processed by soil microorganisms. This process reduces the contamination, but at the same time releases the greenhouse gas - carbon dioxide, which can affect climate change," the press service said.

The scientists studied impacts from various concentrations of the most common diesel brand. "They have found that diesel fuel in most cases significantly increases the release of slow carbon from the Arctic soil. First of all, spilled fuel affects the soil as a habitat for microorganisms: fungi and bacteria. The scientists have suggested, and later on confirmed in experiments, that soil microorganisms of Arctic biomes, underlain by the permafrost, have the ability to use diesel fuel as a nutrient. Carbon release is a result of their vital activity. Therefore, contaminated soils potentially produce more carbon than uncontaminated soils," the release reads.

The researchers identified eight types of microorganisms that process diesel fuel most actively. "Microorganisms decompose diesel fuel causing carbon dioxide emissions. Soil microorganisms can maintain metabolic activity at temperatures below zero degrees Celsius and, consequently, can contribute to an increase in carbon dioxide emissions during the cold period. Therefore, perennially frozen soils contaminated with fuel should be taken into account in local and regional carbon balance assessments, especially in connection with climate change in high latitudes. The bacteria taken from the permafrost soils contaminated with diesel fuel are recommended for development of drugs to eliminate effects of the permafrost's contamination with oil and its products," the press service quoted as saying Oksana Masyagina, a fellow at the Sukachev Institute of Forestry (the Russian Academy of Sciences' Siberian Branch).

In May 2020, in the Krasnoyarsk Region collapsed a fuel tank at the Norilsk thermal power plant, owned by the Taymyr Energy Company, releasing 20,000 tons of oil products. Scientists continue studying how such accidents affect the Arctic ecosystem.