How West Siberia’s atmosphere may help prevent anti-microbial resistance

Russian scientists have been studying proteins and particles in atmosphere aerosols for over 20 years. Generally, microorganisms over marshlands are less well studied. The researchers wanted to investigate bioaerosols in the atmosphere over Vasyugan marshes in Siberia, approximately 52,000 km2. They wanted to measure the concentration of proteins and culturable microorganisms. The mix of forest,…

Exploring the ‘carbon polygon’ of Ladoga

Sustainable soil management (SSM) initiatives review organic matter in soil and carbon sequestration to understand how best to mitigate carbon and methane emissions, improving mitigation of climate change. In Russia, the government established a ‘Carbon Polygons’ project assessing and monitoring carbon in different ecosystems and biomes, especially boreal forest regions. The researchers wanted to assess…

Arctic Science Diplomacy webinar recording

The Arctic Institute is a Washington based NGO. A recent article by Pavel Deyatkin summarises their view about cooperation prospects. The webinar was then streamed. Recording:

Measuring methane from the Russian Arctic shelf

CO2 (carbon dioxide) are widely publicised but CH4 (methane) emissions are less known. These more potent methane emissions in the atmosphere are also caused by either natural or anthropogenic sources. When oxidised, CH4 leads to the formation of CO2 emissions in atmospheric ozone. Studies of land and water sources of emissions are more widely known….

Economic vs climate strategy face-off in the Russian Arctic

Russian climate doctrine and strategy include climate change as one of the biggest 21st century challenges especially socio-economic development of the Arctic region with both opportunities and risks (Drachkova et al., 2023, Kremlin, 2020). The Arctic is warming twice as fast as other areas with reduced snow cover, reduced permafrost, increased precipitation. Sea ice is…

A regulatory shhh across Arctic coastal ecosystems?

Alongside the Arctic Ocean, the Barents, White, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian and Chukchi seas are marine ecosystems including seabeds, ocean floor and subsoils. Increases in drilling of the continental shelf increases environmental impact. Yakovleva noted the most common issues are emissions, oil / oil product spills, pollution, waste (including metals, radioactive, plastic etc ), and…

Space-Time irregularities in the Siberian troposphere

Air circulation in Russia has been changing in particular the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) influence, affected by global temperature increases. Extreme weather in 2020 produced 372 events causing significant damage to Russia’s economy and population.1 Regional climate changes have greater space-time irregularities most commonly surface air temperatures rising faster in high latitudes. However this changes…

What is lurking in Svalbard’s waters?

Researchers looked at marine biodiversity in Arctic waters near Svalbard, in particular the marine ecosystems in the Barents Sea and the Fram Strait region. In the lower benthic layers of the waters, there are greater biodiversity of e.g. zooplankton and fish species. There is a mix of warmer and saltier Atlantic water and colder Arctic…

Understanding climate politics in Central Asia – interview with Alina Bychkova

Alina Bychkova has nearly completed her PhD thesis ‘Understanding climate change narratives in Central Asia: science, politics and media discussions’ at Nottingham Trent University. She co-published ‘Kazakhstan’s climate change policy: reflecting national strength, green economy aspirations and international agenda’, Post-Communist Economies,34:7,894-915,DOI: 10.1080/14631377.2021.1943916 What is your PHD and how is it going? My PhD is in…

Great Norilsk Expedition results in 2023

In 2020, scientists from across 14 branches of the Russian Academy of Sciences began the expedition in Taymyr. They are assessing the state of Arctic ecosystems in the area. Early results of impacts on Arctic waters, via TASS and the Institute of Biophysics (EN) at the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SB-RAS);…