Year 2007 has become the warmest in 150 years of hydro-meteorological survey in Russia, said Roman Vilfand, chief of the country's Hydro-Meteorological Center. "For Russia, one may say it with the 99-percent certainty, it will be the warmest year in nearly 150 years of instrumental observation," Vilfand announced Thursday during the news conference dedicated to hydro-meteorological results. According to Vilfand, 2007 will be one of five, or perhaps, one of three warmest years in the world history. "It shows the climate warming obviously continuous," Vilfand pointed out. Russia had quite a lot of so-called hazardous weather conditions past year. The storm in the Kerch Strait that happened early November caused the greatest damage, the chief meteorologist said, specifying that the overall losses blamed on the dangerous weather were not so hefty as in 2006. January of 2007 was very warm, Vilfand went on, but the temperature sank to -250C in February. Vilfand also emphasized that the fact that Alexander Bedritsky, who heads the Federal Hydrometeorology and Environment Monitoring Service (Rosgidromet) was reelected as the chief of World Meteorological Organization manifests acknowledgement of Russia's achievements in forecasting the weather and hazardous events related to it.
According to Vilfand, 2007 will be one of five, or perhaps, one of three warmest years in the world history. "It shows the climate warming obviously continuous," Vilfand pointed out.
Russia had quite a lot of so-called hazardous weather conditions past year. The storm in the Kerch Strait that happened early November caused the greatest damage, the chief meteorologist said, specifying that the overall losses blamed on the dangerous weather were not so hefty as in 2006.
January of 2007 was very warm, Vilfand went on, but the temperature sank to -250C in February.
Vilfand also emphasized that the fact that Alexander Bedritsky, who heads the Federal Hydrometeorology and Environment Monitoring Service (Rosgidromet) was reelected as the chief of World Meteorological Organization manifests acknowledgement of Russia's achievements in forecasting the weather and hazardous events related to it.
Of course it's getting warmer in Russia. The world is getting warmer. My point is that the Russians don't take this seriously. I don't know what they're thinking, maybe that they will end up with a climate like Spain's. What does concern me is that the world's 3rd biggest CO2 emitter could cut it's emissions by at least 40% (and save itself a lot of money in the process) but doesn't even care about the problem.
Even worse, Russia is planning on increasing it's coal-fired electricity from 25% to 40% of its total electricity output. See here. Why? So that it can export more natural gas, which is the fuel for many current Russian power plants. It's hard to imagine a more short-sighted economic policy. "My True Religion Is Kindness" -- The Dalai Lama
Besides, I didn't accuse him of denying global warming. I accused him of not taking it seriously, which is a whole other question. Cheaper fur coats, indeed. There's one worthy of Bush himself. "My True Religion Is Kindness" -- The Dalai Lama
You're angry with Russia, with Putin for not doing more, or anything, about global warming. So am I. Get in line. And yes, I am also mad at my own leaders. My solution is not to simply bitch about it. Like a lot of Kossaks, I've been busting my ass for 7 years trying to be part of the solution. I'm not sure it's doing any good, but I find it preferable to just complaining and doing nothing. So... again, besides complaining about Putin's inaction re:the environment (and using it as an opportunity to add something about or civil liberties, or democracy, or the rule of law, and old-style Soviet party bosses and Empire fetish), what can we do about it? Diplomatically we've burned our bridges and exhausted our leverage, just when Russia doesn't need us to pay the bills for them. And rather than leading by example and creating a movement so strong that Russia's lack of cooperation could have real repercussions for that country, our own leaders are doing little to give Russia any motivation to be more environmentally responsible
Look, I try to remain optimistic and constructive about the situation. Probably, like the US, Russia will have to see real tangible negative impacts of climate change and be swayed by financial incentive before they proceed to do anything about it. Given their geography and economic situation, that could be a long time coming. What to do in the mean time? I don't know. "Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
Maybe if you lecture them loudly enough they will listen to you.
Or, did you have a better solution? "Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
My diary wasn't a lecture. It was meant as information for the readers of this blog and those at DailyKos. Isn't it shocking to find out that Russia wastes as much energy as it exports? The Russians should be encouraged to change, at times perhaps pressured, which in the right circumstances they do respond to. Am I lecturing when I write diaries about the corruption and stupidities of the Bush administration? Would you be more upset if it were Germany or Portugal or Spain that was wasting energy on such a massive scale?
This isn't about politics, it's about saving the planet, and everyone, the Russians included is going to have to do their part. "My True Religion Is Kindness" -- The Dalai Lama
We'll also need to develop low cost, energy efficient technologies to transfer to the Third World. I see confronting global warming as an opportunity to correct many of the mistakes of the past and to rebuild the world in a more sustainable, kinder, and more just way. From my perspective it's not just a question of finding an alternative power source and then continue doing the same stupid things we've been doing. We need to reorganize our priorities and our societies. There are other crises out there, fresh water and population being chief among them, that will still be there if we treat global warming simply as a question of energy independence. "My True Religion Is Kindness" -- The Dalai Lama
Q. I wonder innocently, does lecturing the Westerners produce any results? "Only puny secrets need protection. Big discoveries are protected by public incredulity." MMcL
Just get over it. "My True Religion Is Kindness" -- The Dalai Lama
