Forest Fire Smoke smothers Moscow amid heatwave
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Pastor Dale Morgan
Jul 26, 2010, 8:00:43 AM7/26/10
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Perilous Times and Climate Change
Forest Fire Smoke smothers Moscow amid heatwave
* From: AFP
* July 26, 2010 8:19PM
INHABITANTS of Moscow were gasping today as the Russian capital was blanketed in a heavy cloud of smoke from forest and peat fires sparked by the most severe heatwave for decades.
The spires of the city's famous Stalin-era skyscrapers were barely visible behind the curtain of fog and smoke in the early morning hours as the authorities sent in water-bombing aircraft to attack the fires in the Moscow region.
Over the last 24 hours, firefighters have been battling 60 forest and peat fires covering a total area of 59 hectares, the emergencies ministry said in a statement.
Planes from the emergencies ministry, including two giant Ilyushin-76 aircraft, had dropped 550 tonnes of water to douse the fires over the past 24 hours, it said.
Alexei Popikov, the head of local environment watchdog Mosekomonitoring, told Interfax that the concentration of toxic particles in the air exceeded the norm by 5-8 times.
Russia's chief general doctor Alexander Chuchalin advised Muscovites to stay inside "with closed windows" and warned of an increase in illnesses, with those with bronchial problems particularly at risk, RIA Novosti reported.
Visibility on Moscow's roads in the morning was no more than 500m but airports carried on working normally.
Throughout the city centre, the air smelled of smoke.
The Russian capital and much of the country from the Baltic to the Pacific coasts have been basking in the severest heatwave for decades which has destroyed 20 per cent of all of Russia's arable land.
Daytime temperatures in Moscow have been over 35C for days and are nudging closer to the all time temperature record in the capital of 36.8C recorded back in 1920.
The heatwave has claimed hundreds of lives of people who drowned in an attempt to cool off from the record temperatures. The horrific toll has been blamed on drunkenness and the use of poorly-equipped beaches.
This weekend alone, 65 people drowned in Russia, Interfax quoted the emergencies ministry as saying.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stepped into the fray, coming up with his own advice for Russians to adapt to the hot conditions.
"Drink hot tea. They say this promotes sweating and is the best way to cool down," he said while visiting Ukraine at the weekend.
Forest Fire Smoke smothers Moscow amid heatwave
* From: AFP
* July 26, 2010 8:19PM
INHABITANTS of Moscow were gasping today as the Russian capital was blanketed in a heavy cloud of smoke from forest and peat fires sparked by the most severe heatwave for decades.
The spires of the city's famous Stalin-era skyscrapers were barely visible behind the curtain of fog and smoke in the early morning hours as the authorities sent in water-bombing aircraft to attack the fires in the Moscow region.
Over the last 24 hours, firefighters have been battling 60 forest and peat fires covering a total area of 59 hectares, the emergencies ministry said in a statement.
Planes from the emergencies ministry, including two giant Ilyushin-76 aircraft, had dropped 550 tonnes of water to douse the fires over the past 24 hours, it said.
Alexei Popikov, the head of local environment watchdog Mosekomonitoring, told Interfax that the concentration of toxic particles in the air exceeded the norm by 5-8 times.
Russia's chief general doctor Alexander Chuchalin advised Muscovites to stay inside "with closed windows" and warned of an increase in illnesses, with those with bronchial problems particularly at risk, RIA Novosti reported.
Visibility on Moscow's roads in the morning was no more than 500m but airports carried on working normally.
Throughout the city centre, the air smelled of smoke.
The Russian capital and much of the country from the Baltic to the Pacific coasts have been basking in the severest heatwave for decades which has destroyed 20 per cent of all of Russia's arable land.
Daytime temperatures in Moscow have been over 35C for days and are nudging closer to the all time temperature record in the capital of 36.8C recorded back in 1920.
The heatwave has claimed hundreds of lives of people who drowned in an attempt to cool off from the record temperatures. The horrific toll has been blamed on drunkenness and the use of poorly-equipped beaches.
This weekend alone, 65 people drowned in Russia, Interfax quoted the emergencies ministry as saying.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stepped into the fray, coming up with his own advice for Russians to adapt to the hot conditions.
"Drink hot tea. They say this promotes sweating and is the best way to cool down," he said while visiting Ukraine at the weekend.
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