Chapter 655 Eating Grass
In a small snowpack on the windy and snowy Greenland.
The lone explorer sat cross-legged in front of the campfire, greedily absorbing the heat.
With charcoal, the second fire was easier than the first time. After Bifang cleared the snow, he reinforced the arched snow top and lit the fire again.
Warming up his frozen limbs.
[I remember last time you said that you can’t just use fire to warm frozen fingers, right? ]
"The reason is this. Rapid heating will cause the temperature of the cell fluid to rise rapidly, and finally burst the cell wall to cause a wound, forming a large area of necrotic cells. Slow heating will allow the cell wall to restore its proper toughness, and there won't be too many problems. However, it is obvious that it is a case of severe frostbite."
"I'm not at that stage yet, so you can rest assured by the fire."
Bifang stretched out his fingers and grabbed a few times, and seemed to have returned to normal.
Before roasting the fire, Bifang's fingers were slightly swollen and red, but it didn't look serious.
If the swelling is severe, the fingers turn red, and every cell feels painful and numb, as if countless ice crystals are tickling the cells, then it is very dangerous. Under the microscope, one cell after another bursts, leaving behind transparent tissue fluid that is enough to make one's scalp numb.
"Leaving aside the southern tip of Greenland, the northern tip is indeed not suitable for human survival."
"According to the book The Great Collapse: The Future of Human Society, 'All five frameworks that lead to social collapse apply to Greenland. Climate: extremely cold, changeable, windy and foggy. The Vikings tried but failed.'"
"Because climate change affects farming and animal husbandry. The Vikings in Greenland mainly rely on livestock for survival, but raising livestock is not enough, so they have to hunt wild animals."
"The Vikings put a lot of effort into raising , but cattle are not adapted to the cold climate. During lean years, the Vikings relied on wild animals, mainly reindeer and three species of seals."
"The Vikings also destroyed Greenland's environment and natural vegetation. Because of the climate, vegetation in Greenland grows very slowly. Without trees, the Vikings could not get enough firewood to make fires, and unlike the Inuit, they did not know how to use whale blubber and other sea animal fat to make fires for lighting."
Bifang can use bushes to make fire because he is the only one here. For a tribe, scattered bushes are totally insufficient and cannot support the needs of making fire.
"There is also the destruction of soil and turf. Greenland's soil is formed by volcanic ash and is very fragile. Without the protection of vegetation, the soil erodes severely. The turf is cut and used for building walls and fuel."
Anyone who has studied biology knows that the fewer species of organisms in an ecological environment, the lower its ability to resist risks. The extinction of just one species of tree may lead to the ecological destruction of an entire island.
This is undoubtedly the case with Greenland. Its proximity to the pole and simple biological relationships make its ecology extremely fragile.
"There were only Vikings in Iceland, but there were Vikings and Inuit in Greenland. The Inuit were a polar people who knew how to make use of the environment. They built igloos and sealskin boats, and were masters of hunting on land and sea. The Vikings thought highly of themselves and disdained to learn from the Inuit, so they eventually disappeared from the island."
Bifang looked around at the cave he had dug. This is actually the wisdom of the Inuit people.
"But even the Inuit only survive in a very small number of tribes, mostly in family units, which is far from being a complete society."
Several families living together cannot be called a society.
"Fortunately, I am just one person, so I have less stress in life than the Inuit."
Bifang smiled and said that as a family unit, adult male Inuit would undoubtedly bear more family pressure from their children and wives.
Men's physical fitness is undoubtedly stronger than women's. This is determined by the laws of nature, so they undoubtedly have a great advantage in hunting.
In such harsh environments, children and women naturally have to rely on male Inuit to survive.
It is not a problem to bring the whole family along, and it is theoretically also feasible for Bifang to do it alone, and it may even be easier. Of course, the premise is that he is not injured or too weak to be healthy.
Once you are at a disadvantage, the family structure can help your body recover, but being alone is basically just waiting to die.
"This is the only way we can survive for the next two days." Bifang sighed.
The blizzard blocked the roads and restricted his range of activities.
Even digging a trench in the snow would take at least half an hour, but staying in a blizzard for an hour could cause limb necrosis, making it basically impossible to move.
I hope there are enough mosses and lichens on this 5,000 square meters of land.
There was no doubt that in the next few days, he would have to look for food and firewood like he did today, and live a life of chewing tree bark and eating grass.
Bifang tore up the lichen he had found, stuffed it into the kettle, and then put it on the fire to roast. After the water boiled, he blew on it and took small sips of it.
The boiled lichen no longer had the tasteless quality of ice. A faint astringent plant taste spread in the mouth. It was definitely not delicious, and even had a taste of earthy residue. However, this warm current warmed Bifang's whole body, bringing a long-lost comfort.
At least there is a basic food guarantee.
The small fire was emitting a faint gray smoke which drifted out of the exit above the cave, while the surrounding area had become noticeably dark.
The temperature in the entire cave rose again, becoming warmer than when simply dissipating body temperature, and reached around minus five degrees Celsius.
This is almost the same temperature as in the south in winter. People with a strong physique really don’t need a cotton jacket.
However, these clumps of bushes could not sustain burning for too long. Boiling two pots of water was probably the limit of what a clump of bushes could burn.
Three pengs, which is a little more than an hour, the rest of the days will still be difficult to endure.
On the second day of the snowstorm, Bifang had to tie up the rope again and go out to look for fuel and food.
This time, Bifang found a lot more lichens and mosses than yesterday. Unfortunately, not all of them were edible. Only one kind of moss was edible. After cooking it and eating it, it gave him an indescribable feeling of fullness.
Compared to other foods, this thing is quite difficult to digest.
It is difficult for the human stomach to digest long fibers; God did not give us this ability .
If you force yourself to eat, it will not only fail to provide much energy, but will cause abdominal bloating and abdominal pain.
The snowstorm lasted until the third day, when it became much less severe.
It was not until noon of the fourth day that it completely stopped. Including the night before the snowstorm, Bifang had been eating grass for almost five days.
Eat grass four days a week.
Bifang urgently needs food with higher energy, he needs meat.
