Siberia Fires :
The world is changing in the most undesirable way. Forest fire in Amazon, bushfires in Australia have already shown us that climate change is as real as we all are living and breathing.
And now the devastating Siberia fires in the northern hemisphere is the new reminder that the climate is heading south of being desirable.
It’s hard to imagine wildfires at such a devastating scale in some of the coldest places on Earth.
Siberia fires are growing…
Wildfires are enveloping in regions of Siberia with black smoke blanketing the sky. These fires were caused by the dry storms during hot weather, pictures of the plumes of smoke from the raging fires were captured from space.
Even though some Siberia fires are common in the dry season, soaring summer temperatures and extreme heatwaves have made this time’s Siberia fires worst in the recorded history of the region.
Image credit: Greenpeace International
Wildlife expert at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, Mark Parrington said, “They are now at ‘unpredictable levels.’ ” satellite image revealed a blanket of thick haze above the region.
According to a report, this year’s Siberia fires in spring were caused by the burning of the “overwintering,” or “zombie” fire of 2019.
Carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by the Siberia fires of 2019 and 2020 was way more than the Co2 emitted in the previous 16 years combined. The smoke released into the air was higher than any other wildfire close to the polar region.
As of 31st July, more than 100 wildfires burned 0.7m hectares (1.78m acres) in Alaska alone, as most of them were caused by lightning strikes, according to the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center.
More than 6.7 million acres (2.7m hectares) of untouched green has been burnt so far across 6 Siberian and eastern regions, according to Russia’s Federal Forestry agency. But according to Greenpeace Russia, more than 3.3 million hectares have been consumed by the burning flames.
Ecological catastrophe in Russia: wildfires have created over 4 million sq km smoke lid over central northern Asia. Big Siberian cities are covered with toxic haze that had already reached Urals. #потушитепожарывсибири #stopfires #stopclimatechange #GreenpeaceFire pic.twitter.com/inNSOnOGvv
— Greenpeace Russia (@greenpeaceru) July 26, 2019
It is estimated a total of more than 20 million hectares of land and 10.9m hectares of forest has been lost in Russia since the beginning of 2020.
Prf. Jessica McCarty from the Department of Geography at Miami University said, “as it keeps progressing into August it’s more worrisome and more troubling.” She also added, “It’s a testament to the amount of fire that’s going on,” in a report.
The soot released by the Siberia fires is extremely hazardous to every breathing organism as it can enter the lungs and bloodstream. This harmful by-product of the Siberia fires will also add up to global warming as it can absorb sunlight which in turn warms the atmosphere.
It can even speed up the arctic melting if it settles on ice or snow as it can reduce the reflectivity of the snow and trap extra heat which in turn would accelerate the melting process of ice and snow, experts warned.
The scientists from CAMS have estimated about 100 megatons of carbon dioxide have been released by the Siberia fires into the atmosphere between 1st June and 21st July which is almost equal to the carbon emission of the small country – Belgium.
Also read: Exoplanets With Sun-like Star Photographed for the 1st Time…
The Russian Government has declared a state of emergency in regions of the republics of Buryatia and Yakutia. Ten helicopters and Ten planes were deployed to tackle the fire from the air.
President Vladimir Putin has ordered his troops to engage and control the raging fires in Siberia. But many have criticized the government for not taking any action to subdue the fire in the remote uninhabitable areas.
100s of thousands of citizens have signed the petition to call for tougher actions to save the forests. The hashtags #putouttheSiberianFires and #SaveSiberianForests are now trending on Twitter.
The U.S president Trump has come forward to help president Putin to fight the Siberian fires.
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