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…
Tag: climate change
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…
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…
Less fizz, more plants – acids and eutrophication in Arctic lakes
Russian researchers identified acidification of lakes during 1990s in Murmansk, Karelia, Archangelsk and Vologda regions and found up to 5% of lakes have acidification due to human causes in humid areas of European Russia and West Siberia. Nornickel was identified as the main contributor of sulphur dioxide SO2 in Kola and Norilsk areas. However since…
Pine trees enjoying Russian warmth
A study by Krasnoyarsk Science Centre in 2019 caught attention, highlighting how birch trees are ‘climbing mountains’ with e.g., the increases in temperature affecting their habitats. Researchers from the Botanic Garden Institute in Yekaterinburg and the Institute of Soil and Water Conservation in Xianyang, recently studied Pinus Sibirica species (Siberian cedar/stone pine) in the Ural…
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…
Climate risk planning for floods and droughts with a hint of Noah and Joseph
A team of researchers investigated the impact on health from floods and droughts between 2010 – 2020. Flooding can be caused by heavy rainfall, storm surges, tsunamis, snow and ice melt or damage to water infrastructure. Health impacts include injuries from flooding including collapsed buildings, floating objects, toxic water with increased pathogens. Regular flooding can…
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…
Russian Climate Research 