 is made of calcium carbonate material, and so the low pH will dissolve it, and so the insects can't live. As the effects intensify, rust worries about a future with more silent water stripped of life. And it's not just in Colorado. Researchers in Alaska have been seeing similar issues in waterways near thawing permafrost, the Arctic's so-called rusting rivers. Research chemist Amanda Barker is with the Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab.