Sergey Zimov, 66, a scientist who works at Russia's Northeast Science Station, checks for permafrost at the Pleistocene Park outside the town of Chersky, Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, Russia, September 13, 2021. Global warming is thawing swathes of the world's permafrost, threatening to release vast amounts of greenhouse gases as everything from mammoth bones to ancient vegetation that have laid frozen inside it for millennia defrost and decompose. Scientists say the emissions could eventually match or even exceed the European Union's industrial emissions due to the sheer amount of decaying organic matter that is locked inside. "This is one of the coldest places on Earth and there's no permafrost," said Zimov, of the Yakutia region where temperatures are rising at more than three times the world average. Picture taken September 13, 2021. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov SEARCH "PERMAFROST SHEMETOV" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY