Current:Home > InvestSiberian Wildfires Prompt Russia to Declare a State of Emergency-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Siberian Wildfires Prompt Russia to Declare a State of Emergency
View Date:2024-12-24 07:17:53
ICN occasionally publishes Financial Times articles to bring you more international climate reporting.
Russia has declared a state of emergency in five Siberian regions after wildfires engulfed an area of forest almost the size of Belgium amid record high temperatures as a result of climate change.
Officials said 2.7 million hectares of forest (about 10,400 square miles) were ablaze on Tuesday as soaring temperatures, lightning storms and strong winds combined, sending smoke hundreds of miles to reach some of Russia’s biggest regional cities.
The fires, which began earlier this month, and the Russian government’s lacklustre response have raised concerns over Moscow’s commitment to addressing climate change. The country relies heavily on the oil and gas industry and has a poor record of enforcing green initiatives.
The decision to declare the states of emergency on Wednesday came after two petitions attracted more than 1 million signatures demanding the government take action against the wildfires, which authorities previously dismissed as a natural occurrence, saying putting them out was not economically viable.
“The role of fires [in climate change] is underestimated. Most of the fires are man-made,” Grigory Kuksin, head of the fire protection department at Greenpeace Russia, told the Financial Times. “Given the changing climate, this has led to the fire acreage expanding quickly, and the smoke spreading wider.”
Rising Temperatures Put Forests at Risk
Environmental groups worry that in addition to the destruction of carbon-absorbing forest, the carbon dioxide, smoke and soot released will accelerate temperature increases that are already melting permafrost in northern Russia. An estimated 12 million hectares of Russian forest has burned this year.
Temperatures in Siberia last month were as much as 8 degrees Celsius (14°F) above long-term averages and hit all-time records in some areas, according to data from Russia’s state meteorological agency.
“This is a common natural phenomenon, to fight with it is meaningless, and indeed sometimes, perhaps even harmful,” Alexander Uss, governor of the Krasnoyarsk region, said Monday. “Now, if a snowstorm occurs in winter … it does not occur to anyone to drown icebergs so that we have a warmer weather.”
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev sent his natural resources minister Dmitry Kobylkin to the affected regions on Tuesday amid reports that smoke from the fires has spread as far north as the Arctic Circle and south to Novosibirsk, Russia’s third-largest city.
“No settlements are currently ablaze and there have been no fatalities,” said Kobylkin, who added: “The forecast of fire danger in the territory of [Siberia] is still unfavorable. There is a probability of exceeding the average values of temperatures in a number of territories of other federal districts.”
Petitions Call for More Preventive Action
Greenpeace said it planned to submit a petition with more than 200,000 signatures to President Vladimir Putin’s administration on Thursday demanding better response to wildfires and more preventive action. A separate petition on the website Change.org has attracted more than 800,000 signatures.
“Smoke going north-east, as it normally does, is very dangerous as it leads to ice melting, permafrost shrinking and those areas emitting methane,” said Kuksin.
“This time the smoke went westward, affecting large cities,” he added. “[But] still no one was going to put them out, and that led to public outcry at the injustice because whenever there is even a small fire near Moscow, it gets put out immediately not to allow any trace of smoke to reach the capital.”
© The Financial Times Limited 2019. All Rights Reserved. Not to be further redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
veryGood! (68)
Related
- Ashton Jeanty stats: How many rushing yards did Boise State Heisman hopeful have vs Nevada
- Make these 5 New Year's resolutions to avoid scams this year
- Lululemon founder says brand isn't for everyone: 'You don’t want certain customers coming in'
- Sudan paramilitary leader says he’s committed to cease-fire, but no progress on proposed peace talks
- Threat closes Spokane City Hall and cancels council meeting in Washington state
- Former cycling world champ Rohan Dennis reportedly charged after Olympian wife Melissa Hoskins killed by car
- Make these 5 New Year's resolutions to avoid scams this year
- New York governor pushes for paid medical leave during pregnancy
- NBC's hospital sitcom 'St. Denis Medical' might heal you with laughter: Review
- Russia hammers Ukraine's 2 largest cities with hypersonic missiles
Ranking
- NFL coaches diversity report 2024: Gains at head coach, setbacks at offensive coordinator
- Glynis Johns, ‘Mary Poppins’ star who first sang Sondheim’s ‘Send in the Clowns,’ dies at 100
- Over a week after pregnant Texas teen Savanah Soto and boyfriend Matthew Guerra killed, a father and son have been arrested
- Ukraine unleashes more drones and missiles at Russian areas as part of its new year strategy
- MLS Star Marco Angulo Dead at 22 One Month After Car Crash
- Older adults can save on 2023 taxes by claiming an extra deduction. Here's how to do it.
- Rage Against the Machine breaks up a third time, cancels postponed reunion tour
- Missing 16-year-old girl from Ohio located in Florida with help from video game
Recommendation
-
1 dead, 2 children injured in wrong-way crash; driver suspected of DWI: Reports
-
Jeffrey Epstein document release highlights his sprawling connections across states
-
Germany’s government waters down a cost-cutting plan that infuriated the country’s farmers
-
Kelly Clarkson Jokes About Her Weight-Loss Journey During Performance
-
Katharine Hayhoe’s Post-Election Advice: Fight Fear, Embrace Hope and Work Together
-
Huge waves will keep battering California in January. Climate change is making them worse.
-
Houthis launch sea drone to attack ships hours after US, allies issue ‘final warning’
-
UC Berkeley walls off People’s Park as it waits for court decision on student housing project