A Russian City Known For Its Harshest Winters Experiences Shift in Temperatures as Wildfire Blazes

According to atmospheric monitoring agencies, a heatwave in one of the world's coldest areas has triggered forest fires and threatened the Siberian city of Yakutsk with an "airpocalypse" of thick poisonous smoke.

High amounts of particulate matter and pollutants such as ozone, benzene, and hydrogen cyanide are expected to make this one of the worst air pollution disasters in history.

The 320,000 people have been advised to stay indoors to prevent inhaling the suffocating fumes from the fires, which are on track to exceed last year's record.

Particles Entering the Body

According to satellite analysts, regional levels of PM2.5 - tiny particles that may enter the bloodstream and harm human organs - have risen to more than 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter in recent days, which is more than 40 times the World Health Organization's recommended safe threshold.

Yakutsk's live air quality sensors recorded PM 2.5 readings of 395 micrograms on Tuesday. This was classified as an "airpocalypse," which is described as having "immediate and severe impacts on everyone."

Images posted to Russian social media accounts showed readings that were more than 17 times higher than the norm in even India's and China's most polluted cities.

Yakutsk's Climate

The Russian city of Yakutsk has one of the world's harshest winters, but summer temperatures rising 2.5 times faster than the worldwide average. Temperatures in a wider Siberian area were more than 5 degrees Celsius above average from January to June last year. Exhaust fumes, industrial pollutants, deforestation, and other human activities made this 600 times more likely.

This spring, the record-breaking trend returned, somewhat earlier than normal and significantly further south than the previous year, nearer to more populous regions like Yakutsk. This is because much of the surrounding area is a thick taiga forest, which catches fire more easily in hot, dry weather.

In early May, the first fire was recorded near Oymyakon, in north-east Yakutia, which is renowned as "the pole of cold" because of its record low temperatures. As the fires became larger, more than 2,000 firemen were dispatched from all across the region.

Related Aritcle: Oymakon, Russia, The "Coldest Inhabited Place on Earth" Is Experiencing Drastic Temperature Rise

Cloud Seeding

Military jets have sprayed forests with water and seeded clouds with silver iodide and liquid nitrogen to produce rainfall. In addition, children have allegedly been conscripted into the struggle to keep the flames at bay in some vulnerable towns. This has been regarded as the greatest firefighting effort in the region since the Soviet Union's demise.

Controlling the Fire

Regardless of these efforts, hundreds of flames continue to burn uncontrollably. A terrifying video from the area shows dense black smoke, and crimson flames down the Kolyma highway dubbed the "Road of Bones" during the Soviet era. This major thoroughfare has since been closed. Tourists aboard a boat on the Lena River shared phone videos of their trip through smoldering hillsides on social media.

Last week, Sakha's emergency ministry reported that over 250 fires were blazing across 5,720 square kilometers, almost the same size as Luxembourg. In addition, the US space agency Nasa has released satellite photos that show massive plumes rising into the atmosphere.

Forest fires in the Sakha Republic have emitted 65 megatonnes of carbon since June 1, according to the European Union's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, which is significantly above the average for 2003-2020. This is currently the second biggest ever, and if the present trend continues until the conclusion of the fire season in late August, it might break last year's record.

Polluted Air

Even the most polluted urban areas contain more poisons than forest smoke. According to a new report by Copernicus, Sakha fires in India's Sakha region have been linked to high PM2.5 levels in the air. The study was based on atmospheric aerosols from Sakha.

Climate Change and Global Warming

Climate change, according to Parrington, is assisting in the creation of circumstances conducive to greater fires in northern boreal forests in Siberia, Canada, and northern Europe, which are all warming faster than the world average. This follows a global pattern of fires shifting from grasslands to fuel-rich woods, which produce more carbon.

Taking the Issue Seriously

The head of Greenpeace Russia says poor forest management, inadequate regulation, and budget cuts have increased the fire dangers. "People gradually realize that the climate is changing and that the implications are potentially disastrous," he said. However, the situation is starting to shift, he added.

Also Read: Oymakon, Russia, The "Coldest Inhabited Place on Earth" Is Experiencing Drastic Temperature Rise