Fires and floods in Russia: Vladimir Putin worries about natural disasters of “san scale” – Franceinfo

“The scale and nature of natural disasters in some areas is absolutely unprecedented.” Faced with devastating forest fires in Siberia and flooding in southern Russia, Vladimir Putin on Saturday August 14 called on his government to “act quickly and efficiently” in the face of ecological problems. This statement comes a few days after the publication of a new publication by the UN climate experts (IPCC), who sounded the alarm in the face of accelerating climate change.

Referring to the heavy rains in the south of the country, the Russian president stressed that “the level of monthly precipitation [tombait] now in a few hours “. The Head of State also referred to forest fires in Siberia and the Far East, aggravated by drought and spread by strong winds.

“All of this shows once again how important it is to engage in a deep and systematic way in the future in the climate and environment agenda.”

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia

Forest fires in Siberia have already devastated more than 16.6 million hectares, especially in Yakutia, a vast but sparsely populated territory, where smoke has blanketed the cities, forcing the authorities to declare a public holiday on Friday.

Smoke from the fires caused higher than normal levels of hydrogen sulphide to reach Chelyabinsk, 3,800 km southwest of the country. The US space agency, NASA, reported a week ago that this smoke had also reached the North Pole.

In southern Russia and Crimea, torrential rains caused flooding and the evacuation of hundreds of people, while nearly 100,000 people were left without power on Saturday.