Climate change in Russia

With the usual dose of bullshit

Russia's Rate of Global Warming Twice as High as World Average

Moscow Times,

25 November, 2014

Russia is heating up 2.5 times faster than the rest of the world, but may yet stand to benefit from it, the country's chief meteorologist said in comments carried by the Interfax news agency.

Temperatures in Russia increase 0.43 degrees Celsius per decade, compared with a world average of 0.17 degrees, said Federal Meteorological Service head Alexander Frolov.

The change brings many benefits for the northern country, including lower heating expenses and a prolonged navigation season, Frolov told journalists on Monday.

Extra carbon dioxide in the air also boosts plant photosynthesis, a boon to agriculture, he said. "Productivity grows. Forests grow. Grasses grow."

Negative aspects, though, include ravaging wildfires and devastating floods, he said.

Central Russia was ravaged by massive wildfires in 2010, which blanketed Moscow in smog for weeks. Wildfires also hit this year the Russian Far East, which suffered a massive flood the year before. In 2012, a flash flood killed 171 people in the southern city of Krymsk.

The growth of the "green economy" also undermines demand for oil, the foundation or Russia's already shrinking prosperity, Frolov said.

"It's the main risk for us. We can't rule out that this change will cause the loss of whole markets, giant markets, that we're counting on," the official said.

Frolov predicted an influx of "climate refugees" from Central Asia due to shortages of water, a resource he expects to overshadow oil in strategic importance.

Central Asia is an arid region, and tensions over water sources and plans for a dam are already mounting between local nations, including Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

"Oil will be relegated to second place," Frolov said. "Water will be No. 1."

Global Warming Could Lead 

to Home Destruction in 

Russia’s Arctic Circle

Average temperatures in the Arctic could increase by 7 degrees centigrade by the end of the century.

Sputnik News,

26 November, 2014

MOSCOW, November 26 (Sputnik) – More than 25 percent of old houses in large Russian cities above the Arctic Circle could be in danger of collapse due to permafrost thawing, a statement released by the Ministry of Emergency Situations on Wednesday said.

According to the ministry statistics, the process of warming is now twice as fast in Russia as it was 100 years ago, with the most noticeable effect in northern regions. The pace of warming in regions above the Arctic Circle is anticipated to be 2-2.5 times faster than the rest of the world, according to scientific data.

Temperatures in the Arctic could see a 7 degree centigrade increase by the end of the century. Global climate changes have already caused an increase in large-scale natural disasters in Russia, mainly floods and wildfires, the ministry reports.

“More than a quarter of old residential buildings, built in the 1950-1970s, could be under threat of destruction in cities such as Yakutsk, Vorkuta, Tiksi and others,” said a member of the ministry’s Department of Civil Protection, as quoted in the report.

On average, more than 100 emergencies take place annually in Russia’s Arctic region, according to ministry statistics.

The total value of natural resources situated in Russia’s far north exceeds $30 trillion, according to ministry data. Gradually most of Russia’s gas and oil extraction will shift to the Arctic offshore, where 11 percent of the country’s national income and 22 percent of exports are currently produced, the ministry reports.

For comparison, the volume of the global economy in 2012 was $70 trillion. According to a 2013 IMF forecast, Russia’s GDP for 2014 could exceed $2.3 trillion, with the potential to reach $3.2 trillion in 2018.