Decarbonising economies – Russia, China, Brazil, Germany, Japan, India

All six countries have strategies towards achieving carbon neutrality. The researchers report that they have 44% of global population, 39.2% global GDP, 44.8% primary energy consumption and 49% global CO2 emissions. They note that different views on economic development and energy transition affect an overall international climate outlook from agreements such as Paris 2015. They…

Forest carbon capture in the Russian carbon market

As part of Russia’s implementation of the Paris agreement, original plans and strategies suggested targets for net absorption in managed forests between 620 – 2500 mln tonnes of CO2e by 2030 (Romanovskaya, 2023). She suggests that 1.2bln tonnes CO2e by 2050 is still possible but needs restructuring of forest management systems. Also identification and validation…

Polar bear poo and human waste

Affected by ice free seas, polar bears are increasingly visiting human villages and adding human waste to their diet. So what are Russian Arctic bears eating? Researchers decided to analyse bear poo to measure natural vs human waste sources of food. Arctic sea ice melt has left polar bears unable to feed on their natural…

Pleistocene Park creators identify 3000 yr old Siberian weather using mummified wood

Nikita and Sergey Zimov of Pleistocene Park in Sakha Republic of Russia, co-authored a study reconstructing Holocene weather conditions. This will help predict the effects of climate change in today’s Russian Arctic. Even Siberian permafrost regions have seasonal variation, especially summer and winter cycles. Mean average annual temperatures and general mean average conditions were previously…

What happens to the forest floor after Siberian wildfires?

The main tree species in the Siberian taiga are larch, Scots pine, fir, spruce, Siberian pine and birch. Lightning is more a frequent cause of wildfires in northern Siberia with anthropogenic activity causing wildfires further south, however central and eastern Siberia have been more affected overall by wildfires. They decrease soil quality (organic matter, structure,…

Carbon update from the Ladoga polygon

The Ladoga polygon is part of a network of carbon monitoring sites, with Ladoga providing data for this north-west region of Russia. It stores large volumes of carbon in soils, approx 208 tC/ha which is the largest volume outside of permafrost affected soil. The region has not had any significant agricultural activity for over 40…

Remotely sensing methane over Tatarstan between 2019-23

Tatarstan is in the centre of European Russia, with an area of 67.8km2, and 4 million human population. 90% of the region is no more than 200m above sea level, mostly forest and forest-steppe with deciduous and coniferous trees. It has over 500 rivers, including Volga, Kama and over 8000 lakes and ponds. It is…

Siberian honeybees holding their own

Some tourists don’t take the Transbaikal Siberian train. They fly in and like it so much they want to stay and mingle with the locals. But what do resident bees really think? Zoology researchers from Tomsk State University decided to find out. Bee threats are well researched – pests, pathogens, fertilisers, habitat destruction and Russian…

Climate change impact on birds in Tatarstan forests

Research from Tatarstan between 2018-23 reviewing winter bird species richness: We show for the first time the results of a study into the spatial distribution of birds in forests at the eastern edge of Europe (Republic of Tatarstan, Russia) and changes from early to late winter. A transect method was used to census randomly selected…