Russia

Top  Natural Disasters

Disaster                                                         Date                                             Killed

·         Earthquake                                      May-1995                                      1,989

·         Extreme temp                                  Oct-2001                                           332

·         Extreme temp                                   Jul-2001                                           276

·         Slide                                                 Jan-1993                                           239

·         Extreme temp                                   Oct-2000                                          232

·         Extreme temp                                   Nov-1995                                         208

·         Extreme temp                                   Dec-1999                                          162

·         Flood                                                Jun-1993                                           125

Disaster                                                             Date                                          Affected

·         Flood                                                  Sep-1994                                     775,429

·         Extreme temp                                     Jan-1999                                     725,000

·         Flood                                                  Jul-2001                                      300,000

·         Wild fire                                             Sep-1998                                     100,683

·         Flood                                                   Jun-1998                                       78,600

·         Flood                                                    May-2001                                     50,305

·         Flood                                                    Aug-2001                                      25,000

·         Flood                                                    Apr-2000                                       23,000

·         Flood                                                    May-1998                                      20,000

Note: Russia independence August 1991, prior to that all natural disasters in that area included in Soviet Union. 

Source: "EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database,  Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium"  http://www.cred.be/emdat/intro.htm Access time: 05/01/2003

From the report listed above from the 1990’2 thru 2003,  we can easily see that extreme temperatures and flooding affect thousands if not millions of people each year. I believe that the 2 go hand in hand due to global warming. During the last 40 years, the average temperature in Russian has increased 0.4 degrees every ten years. The global warming can been seen through higher air temperatures, reduction in ice cover and snow cover, higher sea levels, that the Arctic ice cover last year reached a record low.

In October this year Norwegian and Russian scientists said that the surface water of the Barents Sea was 5 degrees C warmer than normal. They linked the peak-temperatures with the unusual warm summer in the northernmost parts of mainland Norway and on Russia’s Kola Peninsula. Studies  project a sea level rise by 2100 of 26-82 centimeters, up from the 18-59 centimeter rise it predicted six years ago. The report also projected that average temperatures will rise 0.3 to 4.8 degrees C by the end of the century.

The temperature increases may affect agricultural and forestry management at Northern Hemisphere higher latitudes, higher frequency of wildfires, alterations in disturbance of forests due to pests, increased health risks due to heat-waves, changes in infectious diseases and allergenic pollen and changes to human activities in the Arctic such as hunting and travel. These changes will bring flash floods, more frequent coastal flooding and increased erosion, reduced snow cover and species losses. Permafrost thawing may be a serious cause for concern. It is believed that carbon storage in permafrost globally is equivalent to twice the atmospheric pool. Protecting peatlands from drainage and clearance slows down the rate of greenhouse gases. Permafrost in most Arctic areas is from a few to several hundred metres thick and releases methane which has 25 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide.

Lake Baikal, located in Siberia,  is the world's deepest, oldest,and most voluminous lake—equal in volume to the North American Great Lakes combined.² These qualities have given rise to a phenomenal ecosystem that hosts more species than any other lake in the world. Of its 2,500 animal species, half are unique to the lake.³ One–third of the lake's plant species are also found nowhere else on Earth.⁴ Most notably, the lake is home to the Baikal seal, the only seal in the world that lives exclusively in freshwater.⁵In 1996, UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) designated Lake Baikal as a World Heritage Site because of its outstanding ecosystem. Along with swift action to reduce our heat–trapping emissions, international efforts to preserve the lake and reduce the industrial legacy of pollution in its surroundings could minimize harmful changes to the lake's unique ecosystems.

Solutions to global warming include Promoting Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency; European Union Climate Commitments and Progress. which consists of 27 members, committed to reducing its global warming emissions by at least 20 percent of 1990 levels by 2020, to consuming 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, and to reducing its primary energy use by 20 percent from projected levels through increased energy efficiency. The European Union's Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is the world's first, and largest multi-national cap-and-trade program for reducing heat-trapping emissions. This program includes 27 countries and all large industrial facilities, including those that generate electricity, refine petroleum, and produce iron, steel, cement, glass, and paper.

We were asked where the safest place to build a house would be, where would I build my house.  The safest I believe would be in and or around Moscow or more central Russia. However ,this is not where I would choose to build my house. I would study the Inuit people and follow their instructions. In Igloolik, the Inullariit Society, established in 1993 to preserve and promote culture, language, heritage, and traditional values, now offers “Land Camps” during which elders take young Inuit on the land for weeks at a time to teach hunting, survival, and safety skills. Because Inuit knowledge forms the basis for Inuit cultural identity, spirituality, and values, its preservation and promotion is key to addressing concerns at the community level.

By considering climate change and the full range of coping mechanisms in local planning, budgeting, and other decision making processes, Inuit communities can act to hedge against any future challenges they are likely to face. This approach, known as “mainstreaming”may be the best way to prepare for the inevitable changes ahead.

http://barentsobserver.com                          http://www.worldwatch.org

http://www.climatehotmap.org                    http://www.climatehotmap.org