The Black Kite (Milvus migrans) is a raptor found throughout Eurasia, Australia, Africa and can live in a range of habitats including human populated ones. Some species winter in West Asia and Africa and there are a range of research studies looking at their migration patterns, but the migration patterns from Siberia are mostly unknown….
Category: climate
12 new Russian standards for limiting GHGs by end of 2022 and 70 low carbon by 2030
Rosstandart has planned to approve 12 national standards for limiting greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the year, in total, more than 70 standards for low-carbon development are expected to be approved by 2030. Tass.ru via IrinaZerchaninova and Greentie Network The Russian Federation government which is a signatory to the Paris Climate agreement, has…
Mounds of mires
Researchers from Tuvan and Tomsk universities wanted to understand the impact of climate change on palsa mires which are frozen mounds of peat bogs found in the highlands of southern Siberia. They are caused by permafrost and can be several metres high and up to several hundred km2 in area. When reading existing research they…
1.5ºC annual average warming predicted in Russia over next 30 years
Vladimir Semyonov is Deputy Director of the Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The Russian News Agency TASS reported from a recent press conference summarising the current climate atmospheric position based on the Institute’s science. The Institute is an IPCC contributor and collaborator: According to him, the warming will be…
Uncovering stratospheric oxygen and nitrogen in Russian skies
Variability in total contents based on long term stratospheric trends are measured by researchers at the A.M. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics. They are measuring levels of O3 and NO2 at the Kislovodsk High-Altitude Scientific Station (KHASS) and Zvenigorod Scientific Station (ZSS). This includes direct and zenith scattered UV solar radiation during mornings and evening…
Green canopies in the urban Russian Arctic
The majority of residents in cities in the Russian Arctic are not indigenous to the area (approx 95%), mostly migrating from the south and west. They are not used to Arctic ecosystems and the Arctic climate with lower temperatures, permafrost, less rich soil and having to adapt to differing light with polar days and nights….
Feeling the burn in the Volga
Warmer climates have increased the frequency and volume of forest fires across Russia, even in areas which have snow cover. About 98% of forest fires in populated Russia were estimated to be caused by human activity and in more remote areas, approximately 50% caused by thunderstorms and lightening. The researchers reviewed the risks and effect…
Dust detectors in the Aral Sea basin
The Aral Sea repeatedly appeared and disappeared over the last century but has now steadily decreased as the dust increased, resulting in desertification. There is still water in the north of the Aral Sea but the ‘desert’ lakebed in the middle has more dust and sandstorms than anywhere else in the world. Researchers used two…
Climate change impact on river basins in Ukraine 2020
The researchers used six models comparing precipitation and drought based on river levels using RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5 scenarios. Their predictions show a decrease in water in most of the eight main river basins, particularly between 2040 – 2070. The greatest reductions by the end of the century are predicted for Pripyat, Southern bug…
Russian Climate Research 