Siberia
Is Already Experiencing Mid-Summer Temperatures And Major Wildfires
6
April, 2014
Russia’s
less than fearsome winter this year has drawn international
attention. From the slushy
snow at
the Sochi games to December photos of grassy city parks in Siberia
with locals posing
in bikinis near
ice-free rivers, Russia’s frozen mystique isn’t quite what it
used to be.
And
with a record-braking warm spring in parts of Siberia, experts are
warning that 2014 could be an epic year for forest fires.
According
to the Siberian
Times,
Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoi has warned that this year’s
fire season could be one for the record books.
“The
forest fire situation is tense in Russia this year,” Donskoi said
at a conference chaired by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. “Due to
a shortage of precipitation the forest fire season has begun almost
one and a half months ahead of the norm.”
Seventeen
forest fires have already been reported across 2,000 hectares (for
some perspective, that’s about 5,000 acres), and across Siberia
last week century-old temperature records were shattered. In
Siberia’s third largest city, Krasnoyarsk, it was 70ºF, and in
Abakan, the capital city of Khakassia, it was a shocking 77ºF —
temperatures typical of mid-summer for this area. Before this
unusually balmy spring, the warmest temperatures these cities have
seen since record keeping begin in 1014 were 60º and 65ºF
respectively. That record was set back in 1938.
“It
was the hottest April 1 on record for several western Siberian
cities, including Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Kemerovo, Barnaul and
Gorno-Altaysk,” Renad Yagudin, of the Novosibirsk meteorological
service told the Siberian
Times.
“The average temperature in Russia increased 0.4 degrees every ten
years. Overall, the temperature in the area is 6.5-16.2 degrees
Fahrenheit (2-9 Celsius) higher than the record set in 1989.”
Siberian
wildfires may seem like a very remote threat to most of the world,
but what happens in this region has consequences on a global scale.
Smoke
from wildfires in Siberia is often lofted high enough into the
atmosphere that it travels across the Pacific Ocean, blanketing the
western coast of North America with hazy, hard to breathe air. In
2012, smoke from Siberia caused record
ground-level ozone in
British Columbia.
Smoke
can also drift north from Siberia depositing soot across the fragile
Arctic ecosystem. Darker, dirty ice reflects less solar radiation
back into space. Ice that absorbs more radiation melts faster and, in
turn, less ice in the Arctic can affect weather patterns around the
world. When land-based ice melts it also contributes to sea level
rise.
Wildfires
hasten the thawing of vital permafrost as well. Globally, the trees
and frozen soils of the boreal forests lock up an incredible 30
percent of the world’s carbon. But when permafrost melts it
releases vast amounts of carbon dioxide and methane — leading many
scientist to fear that these ecosystems may switch from being a giant
carbon sink to being an unprecedented carbon source.
The
latest United Nations International Panel on Climate Change report
predicted increasing ‘permafrost degradation in Siberia’ as one
the globe’s key trends in the coming years.
Last year, in the Siberian Times the record temperatures were all just a bit of good fun, with pictures of girls in bikini.
No longer.
Forest
fires arrive early as Siberia sees record high temperatures
The past week saw record warm weather in western Siberian cities including Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Kemerovo, Barnaul and Gorno-Altaisk.
Some
parts of Russia have shown even more extreme warming - in the Arctic,
south Chukotka and Kamchatka regions temperatures rose 150 to 200 per
cent more than in the rest of the country. Picture: Alexander
Lesnyanskiy
8
April, 2014
Natural
Resources Minister Sergei Donskoi warned a conference chaired by
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev: 'The forest fire situation is tense
in Russia this year. Due to a shortage of precipitation the forest
fire season has begun almost one and a half months ahead of the
norm.'
By
2 April, 17 forest fires had been registered across 2,000 hectares.
Among the areas now at risk after a faster-than-usual snow melt are
the south of Siberia to the territory of the Far Eastern Federal
District, to Baikal and the Amur regions.
'It
was the hottest April 1 on record for several western Siberian
cities, including Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Kemerovo, Barnaul and
Gorno-Altaysk,' said Renad Yagudin, of the Novosibirsk meteorological
service. 'The average temperature in Russia increased 0.4 degrees
every ten years. Overall, the temperature in the area is 6.5-16.2
degrees Fahrenheit (2-9 Celsius) higher than the record set in 1989.'
Some
parts of Russia have shown even more extreme warming. In the Arctic,
south Chukotka and Kamchatka regions temperatures rose 150 to 200 per
cent more than in the rest of the country, reported RIA Novosti.
In
October last year, Norwegian and Russian scientists said that surface
water in the Barents Sea was 5 degrees Celsius warmer than normal.
They linked the peak-temperatures with the unusually warm summer in
the northernmost parts of mainland Norway and on Russia's northern
Kola Peninsula.
The
reports came in the same week as a UN panel predicted increasing
'permafrost degradation in Siberia' as one the globe's key trends in
the coming years.
The
report, titled Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and
Vulnerability, from Working Group II of the IPCC, detailed the
impacts of climate change to date, the future risks from a changing
climate, and the opportunities for effective action to reduce risks.
Vast
boreal forests in Siberia are, as in Canada, dying faster than was
expected in 2007.
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