Climate challenges for small indigenous groups in the Russian Arctic

[Ed. for further exploration of the topic, Matvienko cites 23 research studies from the last fifteen years included at the end of his article] Roshydromet’s data shows that the average annual air temperature in the Russian Arctic has warmed faster than other parts of the world. (Matvienko, 2023), affecting indigenous (Nenet, Evenk, Chutki) populations. These…

Climate Change and organic carbon in Rostov soils

Research has shown that there is an accumulation limit for organic carbon in Chernozem (black) soils, resulting in carbon emissions once that limit has been reached. Agricultural management practices can include crop rotation, fallowing, residue management and fertilisation to counter the less carbon-rich soils as they arise. The researchers previously studied a 40 year period…

Do carbon emissions affect investor returns in Russian stock markets?

Russia is a signatory to the Paris Climate Agreement and currently developing carbon trading options. The financial researchers wanted to find out more about the relationship between GHG emissions especially CO2 and the profitability of carbon or carbon-free firms. They define carbon risk as “the uncertain possibility of charging polluters for air pollution which depends…

What are soil CO2 emissions after Siberian wildfires?

Siberian boreal forest regions act as carbon sinks but are also affected by climate change impacts such as wildfires. Wildfires release carbon into the atmosphere and change soil decomposition and respiration. The scientists wanted to examine soil emissions, temperature, moisture and properties during successions after wildfires, using taiga study sites in Central Siberia. They expected…

Eco patriotism and political values in Russia

Russian environmental psychology is not well known. The researchers wanted to understand how Russians relate to nature and whether that affects their environmental behaviour. They also investigated a mix of post-Soviet political, psychological, sociological views and affect on behaviour. Previous research in Russia and Kazakhstan found a relationship between environmental concern predicting pro-environmental behaviour, but…

BRICS and global climate governance

[Ed. The article was authored by Turkish researchers but is relevant to discussion of climate change sciences in Russia] They wanted to understand more about the developing role of BRICS during international negotiations and dialogues. BRICS nations have recently developed some policy convergence around climate change based on their economies, emissions and resources. For example,…

Ice jams and models along the Volga river

Ice is one of the leading causes of damage to infrastructure from water factors including flooding, ice blockages and hanging ice: In 2020, The Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet) recorded 1,000 dangerous hydrometeorological phenomena in Russia (97 phenomena more than in 2019), of which 372 phenomena caused significant damage to critical…

Predicting carbon friendly and investment friendly climates in Russia

Between 1990 and 2019, Russia had halved its GHG emissions, with 2019 emissions at 2.1 GtCO2e with carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted during energy consumption representing the bulk, alongside methane CH4 from oil and gas infrastructure, waste and nitrous oxide (NO) from agriculture. As previously mentioned, Russia’s energy mix includes natural gas, nuclear, some coal, oil…

Klimat: Russia in the age of climate change

Book review by Marianna Poberezhskaya who describes it as as a ‘must read’ for anyone who wants to understand exactly what drives Russia’s emissions (and therefore, how they can be contained) as well as the fundamentals of Russia’s economy and its current inner politics (including informal and formal arrangements impacting key state decisions). Following the…

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…