PO BAG 1: forest fire

Showing posts with label forest fire. Show all posts

29 November 2015

Energy-rich Russia pays little attention to climate change

Trees are cut along a construction site of a new highway in Moscow region in this Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015 photo. As the climate warms, moisture levels are changing with wet areas becoming wetter and dry areas drier. Russia is the fastest warming part of the world, according to a report from the country’s weather monitoring agency. The steady rise in temperatures puts Siberia- known for its long winters and lush forests- at risk to natural disasters, such forest fires.

When forest fires roared through Siberia this summer, so vast that the smoke blocked vast Lake Baikal from satellite view, Russian officials blamed the blazes on arsonists and disorganized fire crews. Environmentalists say there was another culprit: global warming.

As temperatures rise worldwide, areas such as Siberia are suffering increasingly long dry spells. Russia's national weather agency says the country is the fastest-warming part of the world.