Punishment by the weather: in Russia the global warming is going faster than in the world

Irina Mishina

Global warming is the main threat to humanity in the coming decades. This process can become more destructive and destructive than all wars put together: entire countries will disappear from the face of the earth, millions of people will die from floods, unbearable heat and other natural disasters; hundreds of thousands will be doomed to starvation. All this, according to the forecasts of scientists, can become a reality of our planet if the world does not make a revolution in energy and economy over the next 20 years. All these forecasts are all the more disappointing because the climate in Russia is warming twice as fast as in the rest of the world.

Moscow has become an analogue of a stone pasture?

The World Health Organization estimates that climate change will claim about 250,000 lives each year worldwide from 2030 to 2050. The causes of death will be the effect of heat on people, child malnutrition and increased cases of malaria. But in addition to the negative impact on health, global warming will have no less devastating socio-economic consequences. The first is climate change. According to Roshydromet forecasts, by the middle of the 21st century, climate change will force about 200 million people to change their place of residence.

Why is climate change dangerous for humans? This is a threat to his existence. At least a threat to a large part of it. Migration of peoples in the future will become inevitable. People will lack food and fresh water. Many species of animals will disappear from the Earth. Everyone will become angrier, therefore life will be harder. The struggle for resources will begin, and fresh water will become the most scarce of them. You will see, whole wars will happen because of it. Our world will change its appearance, and we, as an insignificant and powerless part of it in relation to these global processes, will suffer and try to adapt to changes. The quality of life of the majority of the world's population will greatly decrease”, - Ruslan Khvostov, the chairman of the Green Initiative party, told NI.

Russia will also have to prepare for the influx of visitors from the countries of Central Asia. There are prerequisites for this: the climate of Moscow is already close to the steppe.

“This is largely due to a change in the nature of the underlying surface in the natural zone in which the metropolis is located. There are less and less coniferous, coniferous-deciduous forests, their disappearance leads to the fact that moisture evaporates faster, since most of the surface is dry. As a result, in Moscow, for example, the climate has become closer to the dry steppe and semi-desert of Kazakhstan, Kalmykia or the southeast of Stavropol, where the total temperatures for the year are higher than in the middle zone, but the climate is less mild, more extreme. This cannot but affect the city dwellers as well. Also, with a large area of the sealed surface and sparse vegetation, there are more suspended particles and dust in the air, and this inevitably affects health. The ruthless use of land in Moscow for construction is comparable to desertification as a result of grazing in dry steppes”, - Anton Khlynov, a member of the environmental welfare commission under the OPRF, explained to NI.

Apricots will ripen faster, but the grain harvest will be in jeopardy

According to scientists, by 2080 the death toll from the heat in tropical and subtropical regions will increase by almost 5 times. This conclusion was made by scientists from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Apparently, the predictions began to come true earlier. Some regions are already forced to take emergency measures all the time, especially in summer.

So, by order of the head of Kalmykia, where the temperature in summer rose above + 43 degrees, the working day was shortened. In some regions of the republic, drought has led to the death of grain crops and grass in pastures. In Volgograd, because of the abnormal heat, roads and pedestrian areas were poured with water; in crowded places, city volunteers distributed bottled water for free. In addition, special patrols served on the Black Sea coast of the Krasnodar Territory. In the Altai Territory, snow is melting rapidly in the mountains, which may lead to new floods. The water level has already risen in the rivers Katun, Biya and in some parts of the Ob. A similar situation has developed in the Krasnodar Territory, Chuvashia and Yakutia.

“Certain temperature anomalies, local crises, hurricanes, floods have been recorded. My friend a farmer from North Ossetia says that his apricots began to grow better. The same can be said about southern plants. It has become much warmer in the south of the Russian Federation, this is a fact. Alpinists have been recording the melting of glaciers in the mountains for a long time. The thawing of permafrost in the North and Siberia has no less extreme consequences. There is an opinion that climate warming should favorably affect the harvest. But if this is good for the ripening of apricots, then drought for cereals is bad. In addition, hail, floods, temperature changes are not always favorable for the cultures of the middle zone. That is, warming can bring negative consequences for Russian agriculture”, - Anton Khlynov, a member of the commission for environmental well-being under the OPRF, believes.

According to some scientists, due to the warming of the climate in Russia, the duration of the fire hazard period may increase in the near future. Also, as a result of the heat, Russia can lose up to 20% of grain annually.

“Climate change will significantly increase the risks of large-scale wildfire emergencies. The duration of the fire hazard situation, according to forecasts, will increase in the south of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, in the Kurgan, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo and Tomsk regions, in the Krasnoyarsk and Altai Territories, as well as in Yakutia," explained "NI" in the Center "Antistikhia" Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation.

The Volga and Don are at risk of drying up, and Kaliningrad is under water

Recently, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report on climate change on Earth. Experts' conclusions are disappointing. Earth's average temperatures are rising faster than at any time in the past 2,000 years, and the last five have been the hottest on record since 1850. Climatologists agreed that this happened through the fault of mankind. Transport, industry and energy annually emit about 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Global warming has the potential to reduce the efficiency of food chains in the oceans, endanger the survival of large animals and undermine food security.

The UN also warned of the threat of flooding due to climate change. This will also affect Europe in the near future. Melting Greenland glaciers are already close to the point of no return, after which the ice sheet on the island will begin to disappear. There will be a slowdown in the Atlantic meridional circulation , and this could lead to extreme weather events in Europe, including increased storms, summer droughts and heatwaves. Some countries may disappear altogether: due to rising sea levels, dozens of small island states are at risk of sinking.

In relation to Russia, flooding threatens, first of all, the Kaliningrad region - the famous beaches in Kaliningrad may disappear, while St. Petersburg, on the contrary, will “rise” and avoid floods. Also, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Semenov believes that in reality the most severe impact occurs on the coastline in the Arctic - where this line consists of permafrost. The rise in the sea level is superimposed on the melting of the permafrost. According to scientists, sea level rise may affect Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and St. Petersburg. At the same time, scientists note that climate risks in Russia are poorly understood.

No less dangerous process is the drying up of rivers and seas. “The Caspian Sea, where oil and gas is actively produced, is already at risk”, - says Ruslan Khvostov, chairman of the Green Alternative party. - In the event of emergencies, special vessels, which are based 20 km from the Urals, should arrive at the scene to eliminate them. The scale of the consequences of the emergency depends on the speed of arrival of these rescue stations. But the rivers become shallow so rapidly that soon the ships will not be able to sail on them at all. Don, Volga, Pechora and other large rivers dry up. The list of shallowing medium and small rivers is much longer. This results in our own problems, ignoring which we simply destroy nature and our future generations”.

The drying up of rivers in Russia is closely related to deforestation, which can cause a real natural disaster. After all, forests are a shield that protects people and nature from floods and droughts.

“When there are fewer forests, the area around them becomes deserted: after all, forests are a kind of pump that draws moisture deep into the continent, a kind of air rivers. If this process is disturbed, if there is less moisture, the flow of rivers and lakes may be disturbed. All water will drain into the ocean, there will be less water in rivers and lakes, they will dry up. Forests perform global environmental functions for climate regulation, therefore, economic activity must be built on the basis of the maximum preservation of forest areas”, - Vladimir Morozov, chairman of the public council at Rosleskhoz, member of the OPRF advisory council on environmental well-being, told NI.

By the way, many in the world have already realized the scale of the catastrophe threatened by the destruction of forests: the Tropical Union was recently created, which included Brazil, Indonesia and the Congo. It is in these countries that tropical forests grow that attract rain. What other catastrophes must happen in Russia in order for us to create an alliance to protect forests from humans?

According to scientists, if urgent measures are not taken, life on the planet will change in less than 20 years. But already now nature is sending signals: the climate is becoming more and more unpredictable. Hurricanes, floods and tornadoes are harbingers of a future catastrophe. It can become much more terrible and destructive than wars.

Apparently, understanding of this has finally come to Russia: 11 billion rubles will be allocated to work on adapting the country's economy to global climate change. Including 1.8 billion rubles will go to work to combat climate warming.

The earth must be loved, only then it will reciprocate to man.