Siberia’s weather is weird – and it’s causing
problems
Summer in
Siberia?
18 Jun 2020
Charlotte
Edmond
Senior
Writer, Formative Content
Much of Siberia enjoyed an unseasonably warm winter,
with heatwaves taking temperatures in some places 10 degrees above average.
In contrast, there have been snowstorms and tornadoes
in June.
The weather is causing the permafrost layer to melt,
leading to a massive oil spill and the spread of wildfires.
One minute it’s T-shirts, the next it’s snow boots.
Siberia is experiencing some wild weather swings in 2020.
Russia’s
coldest region has just experienced a winter heatwave, with an early start to
summer seeing temperatures hit 35°C. Much of Siberia experienced temperatures
well above average for the period from June 2019 to May 2020, with some parts
10°C above the average temperatures seen between 1981 and 2010.
But June
has brought snow, tornadoes and flooding to the region, with a state of
emergency declared in some parts. Villages have been deluged, houses destroyed
and bridges washed away.
While
locals have been enjoying the sunbathing, early-blooming flowers and harvests,
the effects of the temperature fluctuations have had more concerning
consequences for the environment.
Back in
December, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the potential severe
impact the heatwave could have if it triggered thawing of the permafrost layer
on which a number of cities are built.
The melting
permafrost led to what environmentalists say is the worst oil spill of its kind
in the Russian Arctic. In May, diesel oil started to leak from a storage tank near
Norilsk because melting permafrost weakened its supports. Thousands of tonnes
of oil have contaminated the nearby Ambarnaya river and surrounding subsoil,
and have put other parts of the region at risk.
Meanwhile,
ice on a number of rivers has been melting and breaking up earlier than usual,
putting some towns on watch for flooding. And there have been extreme wildfires
which have been exacerbated by drier conditions.
The global
picture
The warmer
temperatures in Siberia have contributed to May being the warmest on record
globally, 0.63°C warmer than the average May from 1981-2010, according to the
Copernicus Climate Change Service from the EU.
European
surface air temperature anomaly for spring.
There are
concerns that the coronavirus pandemic has pushed climate change further down
the list of concerns for governments. And although globally greenhouse gas
emissions plummeted during the early months of 2020, when many nations were on
strict lockdown, they have started to climb again in some places. According to
figures from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, air pollution in
China rebounded in May – overshooting concentrations seen during the same
period last year.
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