You do not have permission to delete messages in this group
Copy link
Report message
Show original message
Either email addresses are anonymous for this group or you need the view member email addresses permission to view the original message
to Bible-Pro...@googlegroups.com
Perilous
Times and Climate Change
Forest fires rage in Russia's Far East, Siberia
MOSCOW | Sun May 22, 2011 5:15am EDT
(Reuters) - Fires are spreading fast across vast Siberian forests
in a reminder of last year's worst drought on record which killed
dozens of people and forced Russia to suspend grain exports.
The Emergency Ministry said on Sunday on its web site
www.mchs.gov.ru that around 100,000 hectares of forestry was
caught up in fires, mainly in the Far East as well as in the
oil-rich Siberian province of Khanty-Mansiysk and nearby areas.
The European part of Russia, the country's agricultural
hinterland, remained largely unaffected but the authorities say
the situation may worsen as dry weather persists.
During a record heatwave last summer, Russian authorities
struggled to contain peat and forest fires that destroyed a
quarter of the country's crops, killed dozens of people and
engulfed Moscow in a cloud of hazardous acrid smoke.
Hundreds are thought to have died from the scorching heat last
year, but Russia's top forecaster has said he did not expect the
extreme drought to be repeated this year.
Last month, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered officials to
prevent a repeat of last year's devastating wildfires as
environmentalists warned of another disaster.
Estimates for the European Union's wheat harvest are shrinking by
the day, with analysts cutting crop forecasts again last week as
plants wilted in a months-long drought that looks set to continue
for a while.
Russia's official forecast for this year's crop is 85-90 million
tonnes compared to some 61 million tonnes in 2010, 97 million in
2009 and 108 million in 2008.