Home/Posts Tagged ‘Russia’
Posts Tagged ‘Russia’
Science & Technology, Wildlife & Flora, Feb 21st, 2012,
Russian scientists have succeeded in regenerating an ice age plant from fruit tissue found frozen in the Siberian permafrost. A nest of Arctic squirrels containing fruit and seeds was discovered over 30 meters (100ft) underground, its contents frozen for around 32,000 years. Scientists managed to germinate an ice-age plant, similar to chickweed, from the ancient seeds. From the Guardian: The experiment proves that permafrost serves as a natural depository for ancient life forms, said the Russian researchers, who published their findings in Tuesday’s issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. The burrows explored…
Tags: arctic, permafrost, plant, Russia, scientists, Siberia
Pollution, Videos & Documentaries, Dec 19th, 2011,
On Sunday a Russian oil platform capsized between Sakhalin Island and the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Sea of Okhotsk off far eastern Russia. The oil rig, which was manned by 67 people subcontracted by Russian oil giant Gazprom, was being towed during a storm when heavy winds toppled it into the sea. So far Russian authorities have confirmed 16 deaths and a rescue raft with 15 people has been spotted, but it is not known how many on the raft – if any – are alive. According to regional emergency services, the accident poses no environmental threat, since the drilling…
Tags: death, France, fuel, oil, okhotsk, platform, rig, Russia, ship
Climate Change, Politics, Nov 30th, 2011,
COP 17 updates, anyone? Anyone care about the future of the climate, planet Earth or its human and non-human inhabitants? No? Well neither do your leaders, apparently. Wo what are they doing there, anyway? One aspect of the climate summit in Durban, South Africa seems to be various large polluting countries balking at committing to reduce emissions unless every other country does. This effectively means that none of them really want to. Not enough to take a stand. Make no mistake: the rule of the day is economic self-interest. Brazil, China, India are not considered industrialized nations and want exemption…
Tags: China, climate, cop 17, Durban, emissions, EU, global, japan, kyoto, REDD, Russia, treaty
Conservation, Videos & Documentaries, Wildlife & Flora, May 3rd, 2011,
The Komi Republic is located west of the Ural Mountains on the Eastern European Plain. Part of the Russian Federation, Komi’s human population is less than a million inhabitants, who are far outnumbered by its trees. The republic is 70% woodland, mostly boreal, or coniferous, forest (also known as “taiga”). The Virgin Komi Forests are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the only natural UNESCO site in Russia. The forests span 32,800 square km (12,664 square miles). Unfortunately, the logging and gold mining industries threaten the Komi Forests as do forest fires. 15% of the forest is designated as protected,…
Tags: boreal, forest, komi, Russia, virgin
Climate Change, Politics, Videos & Documentaries, Sep 26th, 2010,
The environmental and geopolitical ramifications of melting Arctic glaciers and the rush of different nations for the region’s mineral wealth is fraught with conflict and change. Melting ice in the Arctic spells trouble for some of Greenland’s traditional indigenous Inuit and for low-lying nations vulnerable to rising sea levels. A warming climate will also change shipping routes in the region, contributing further to the opening up of the region for economic exploitation. The Arctic is becoming the new battleground for the environment. Groups such as Greenpeace, the WWF and Climate Camp actively confront the activities of oil companies, like Scotland’s…
Tags: arctic, change, climate, gas, glacier, greenland, ice, melting, mineral, oil, Russia
Climate Change, Nature, Science & Technology, Sep 14th, 2010,
Carbon and methane stored in Siberia’s permafrost are being released as Russia’s Arctic experiences warmer temperatures, which cause the permafrost to recede. So far there is insufficient data to gauge just what percentage of methane in the atmosphere is a result of particular natural sources such as swamps and melting permafrost. Manmade sources of methane include power generation, rice farming, livestock agriculture and landfills. From a report by Russia’s BCM News: The fact is that the permafrost covers millions of kilometers of swamps. While melting, swamps send to the atmosphere tons of methane, which, in turn, leads to more significant…
Tags: arctic, carbon, Climate change, French, German, Lidar, melting, methane, Nevada, permafrost, Russia, satellite, Siberia
Climate Change, Politics, Sep 7th, 2010,
In the African nation of Mozambique, rising bread prices have sparked food riots in the capital of Maputo. The increasing cost of grain has added to an already-stressed economic atmosphere caused by price hikes of other necessities such as water, fuel and electricity. According to an AFP report, the death toll due to the riots has reached 13. In an opinion piece for the Observer, author, activist and academic Raj Patel points to the recent crisis in Mozambique as a sign of things to come when extreme weather events increasingly collide with an unjust global economic system. Patel does not…
Tags: African, Climate change, food, heat wave, Maputo, Mozambique, Patel, Raj, riots, Russia
Climate Change, Videos & Documentaries, Sep 5th, 2010,
High winds have fueled a new spate of wildfires in Russia, resulting in several deaths and the destruction of hundreds of buildings. 20 villages in the Volgograd and Saratov provinces have lost around 500 buildings to the blazes. From an Al Jazeera English report: Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, has ordered authorities to mobilise all means to fight the new blazes, as the emergencies ministry warned there was a risk of the fires spreading to other southern regions. These new fires come on the tail of a tragic summer for Russia, in which over 50 people died and a quarter of…
Tags: blazes, Russia, Saratov, Volgograd, wildfires
Climate Change, Nature, Aug 18th, 2010,
Two months of extreme heat in Russia will end after today according to Russian meteorologists, with rains expected in nearly all regions of European Russia. The two-month long heat wave and resulting drought have caused thousands of deaths, severe pollution, thousands of wild fires and the loss of a third of the country’s wheat crop. From a Reuters article: Officials broke the silence over the effects of the heat and smoke on Aug. 9, when the head of Moscow’s health department, Andrei Seltsovsky, said deaths had doubled to 700 per day and heat was the main cause. Meanwhile in China…
Tags: China, deaths, extreme, floods, heat, landslide, Moscow, Pakistan, Russia, Smog, wave
Climate Change, Nature, Videos & Documentaries, Aug 14th, 2010,
From Australia to China to Pakistan to Russia and central Europe, this summer has so far been characterized by extreme weather events such as torrential rains, flooding, drought and wildfires. In the following video report by ITN News, climate scientist Thomas R. Karl explains how the current extreme weather events across the globe are linked and most likely connected to human activity. Karl is the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Services office in Washington DC. From an article by the Associated Press: Russia and central Asia this year happen to be the epicentres of very…
Tags: australia, China, climate, events, extreme, flood, flooding, Karl, Pakistan, Russia, scientist, summer, Thomas, weather, wildfires
Climate Change, Nature, Aug 13th, 2010,
While individual events like heat waves, cold snaps, floods and droughts cannot be attributed to man made climate change on an individual basis, scientists at the World Meteorological Association (WMO) say global warming exacerbates the intensity of recent extreme weather. The floods in China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the heat wave and resultant wild fires in Russia and the intense rain in central Europe all point to the fact that extreme weather events have tripled since 1980. From an article by Reuters: Recent extremes include mudslides in China and heat records from Finland to Kuwait — adding to evidence of a changing…
Tags: change, China, climate, events, extreme, fires, flooding, floods, global, heat, Pakistan, Russia, scientists, warming, wave, weather
Conservation, Politics, Pollution, Aug 12th, 2010,
Record summer temperatures and drought have caused around 800 wildfires, which in turn covered Moscow in a cloud of poisonous smoke. Now some 28 fires have reached parts of the Bryansk region of Russia, which is located near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine – site of the worst nuclear accident in history in 1986. This is raising concerns that the fires could release radioactivity left over from the Chernobyl disaster, which heavily contaminated parts of Bryansk. From a Spiegel article: Earlier this week, Greenpeace Russia published a map purporting to show the extent of the wildfires which,…
Tags: agricultural, bank, chernobyl, development, fire, fires, Moscow, peat, radioactivity, Russia, SEED, smoke, Wetlands International, wildfires
Conservation, Politics, Science & Technology, Aug 10th, 2010,
As Russia’s crops wither and burn in record heat and wildfires, the oldest and first seed bank in the world is under threat. Russia’s Pavlovsk agricultural station, located outside of St. Petersburg, was established in 1926 with the purpose of preserving plant diversity and breeding new crops in response to potential food crises. During World War II’s siege of Leningrad, twelve Russian scientists starved to death rather than eat from the seed bank. Now private developers would see it destroyed to make way for new housing. From an article in the Guardian: More than 90% of the plants are found…
Tags: berries, biodiversity, crop, developers, diversity, global, Pavlovsk, property, Russia, Russian, seed bank
Wildlife & Flora, Aug 8th, 2010,
Western Gray Whales are already perilously close to extinction, but Rosneft will pursue their seismic surveys despite the well-publicized risks Russia’s good news – that the country plans to set aside huge swaths of land for conservation – has been surpassed by a deluge of subsequent bad news. Heat waves led to fistfuls of citizens succumbing to vodka-induced drownings, and then this last week devastating fires have destroyed forests and left Moscow saturated in smoke. Against this backdrop of environmental and human drama, not to mention thousands of private and public pleas, Rosneft had the perfect opportunity to elevate the…
Tags: Russia, whales, wildlife conservation, WWF
Climate Change, Pollution, Videos & Documentaries, ,
Wildfires continue to spread in Russia, with an additional 270 igniting just within the past day or so. According to Russia’s emergency ministry, a total of 554 wildfires are currently burning over an area of 190,000 hectares (470,000 acres). So far 276 fires have been extinguished. Smoke from the fires is blanketing Moscow and preventing air traffic. The city experienced carbon monoxide at 6 times the maximum permitted level. From a CNN report: According to Russia’s health and social development ministry, wildfires have killed at least 52 people and left dozens hospitalized. The hot weather, drought and resultant wildfires have…
Tags: fires, Moscow, Russia, smoke, wildfires
Pollution, Aug 1st, 2010,
China’s worst flooding in ten years has resulted in widespread problems including over 1,250 people dead or missing, thousands of homes destroyed and billions of euros in damage to infrastructure. One of the latest worries is that around 7,000 barrels, some containing toxic chemicals, were swept into the Songhua River on Wednesday. Authorities in China claim that nearly 3,000 have been recovered, but whether the barrels were empty or full is unclear. From a BBC News report: It is a source of drinking-water for several million people and is being tested for possible contamination, but officials have said there is…
Tags: Amur, Barrels, chemicals, China, Chinese, leak, river, Russia, Russian, Songhua, TOXIC, water
Climate Change, Nature, Politics, Videos & Documentaries, ,
Russia’s forests are facing threats from both development and Mother Nature. Forest fires are currently blazing in locations across the country, with the Moscow region being particularly hard-hit. An official state of emergency has been declared in 27 out of 83 of Russia’s regions and 10,000 firefighters have been deployed to fight the blazes. Unusually hot and dry weather has greatly exacerbated conditions for fires. Over 25 people have been killed because of the fires, over 1,000 homes have been destroyed and thousands of people displaced. Russia has also lost 9.6 million hectares (24 million acres) of grain crops due…
Tags: activists, developers, fire, firefighters, forest, heat, highway, Khimki, Russia, Russian, weather
Climate Change, Videos & Documentaries, Jul 26th, 2010,
The heat wave punishing much of Europe has hit Russia especially hard. Desperate to find relief from record high temperatures, many Russians are seeking out lakes, rivers, pools and fountains to cool off. Unfortunately, many are also combining swimming with alcohol and this combination has lead to a rash of drowning deaths across the country. The temperature in Moscow, the capital of Russia, hit 35 degrees Celsius on Thursday, which was recorded as the hottest day in 30 years. –Al Jazeera 300 drowning deaths occurred in Russia last week alone. Unfortunately the heat wave is forecast to continue with temperatures…
Tags: deaths, drowning, fountain, heat, heat wave, Moscow, record, Russia, temperature, video
Conservation, Nature, Jul 18th, 2010,
Russia’s recent heat wave led to 1200 cases of drinking and drowning as revelers fatally beat the heat. The country’s Polar Bears suffer too, but might finally gain new relief as a result of the government’s commitment to expand its protected regions to 3% of its vast territory. Mostly on the Kurill Islands, a volcanic archipelago, along the mountainous southern border, and in the Ural mountains on the western plain, 9 nature reserves, 13 national parks, and 1 million ha of marine buffer zone will be established by 2020.
Tags: biodiversity, International Year of Biodiversity, Russia, The Nature Conservancy, WWF
Climate Change, Nature, Jul 16th, 2010,
In a piece of news that may sound bizarre to some, record-breaking temperatures in Russia are causing a rash of deaths by drowning. Over 1,200 have drowned recently, sometimes combining swimming with alcohol to seek relief from temperatures approaching 40C (104F). An official from Russia’s Emergencies Ministry attributed most of the drowning deaths to this dangerous mix. From a CNN report: Officials have urged citizens to take a siesta in the afternoon to avoid the hottest part of the day. Cases of heat stroke and sunburn have increased in children, and adults with heart problems and diabetes are suffering complications….
Tags: deaths, drowning, Europe, heat, heat wave, record, Russia, Russian, temperatures, vodka, weather
