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…

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…

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…

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…

Green shoots not yet visible in the forestry economy

Forest companies are the chief exploiters of forest resources, and their actions may have a major impact on the global sustainable development. Russian companies have a special place in this regard as Russia is the most forested country in the world and the forest industry there has a global impact. Researchers from the University of…