Have wildfires across Siberia been exacerbated by warming average temperatures?
Rising average temperatures are exacerbating Russia’s wildfires by melting permafrost and drying out land, providing more fuel for fires across vast stretches of Siberia.
Russia’s average temperatures have been increasing at 2.5 times the rate elsewhere on the planet, a 2015 report estimated. Warmer temperatures contribute to more severe fires, whether they are caused by lightning, human negligence or deliberate arson. Russia’s northern forests account for 11% of the world’s biomass, according to a 2007 estimate; more severe fire seasons in those regions add to the challenge of slowing the growth of global carbon emissions.
On Aug. 11, the Washington Post reported that so far in 2021 fires in uninhabited areas across Russia, which authorities let burn unchecked, have engulfed some 8,000 square miles. California’s largest recorded wildfire to date, in 2020, burned across 1,600 square miles.