Hundreds of forest fires rage in Russia

Unseasonably hot weather and limited rains had pushed firefighters to the limit and they needed assistance, Medvedev said on Monday during a meeting with local officials in the city of Tomsk, about 2880 kilometres east of Moscow., the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

The worst fires were in the thinly populated Krasnoyarsk region, where blazes are expanding and cover some 1.4 million square hectares, officials said.

Also hard hit were territories in central Siberia, the Ural mountains near the Mongolian border and on the Pacific coast, a statement from Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) said.

Firemen parachuted into the regions were playing a key role in controlling the blazes, Medvedev said, as often there was no other practical way to get men and equipment to wilderness districts.

"For fires of this scale, there is no way we can deal with the situation without these men," the prime minister said.

More than 210,000 workers and 45,000 vehicles are participating in Russia's forest fire control effort. Also deployed are 108 planes and helicopters, many operating as water bombers.

In 142 sorties on Sunday, water bomber aircraft dropped some two million tonnes of water on fires across the country, the MES statement said.

I feel bad for the Russian nation. We have had several bad fires in Colorado alone and it is not yet the height of the hot or dry season but we have had 50 days of very hot weather.

I don't see anyone making fun of Colorado's weather problems. Hopefully, nobody will be callous enough to try to make rude remarks about the hot weather and fires in Russia.

Let's hope that any fires in Siberia are near the Chinese border to make it easier for the cossacks to toss outy those chinese sneaking into Russia to steal or to stay.

I don't feel bad at all. I hope entire Russia burns.

You burn nature (gas and oil), nature burns you.

Not specifically about Russia, nor about USA nor Canada nor Australia. It applies to all who burn fossil fuels.

Burning peat bogs and permafrost might become self-sustaining - meaning perennial.

Permafrost -> permaburn.

tarmo wrote:

You burn nature (gas and oil), nature burns you.
Not specifically about Russia, nor about USA nor Canada nor Australia. It applies to all who burn fossil fuels.
Burning peat bogs and permafrost might become self-sustaining - meaning perennial.
Permafrost -> permaburn.

May I inqire please what do you burn in your Estonian energy plants and in Estonian car engines? Is it ecologically clean good Estonian farts? Thank you, you are so kind.

I hope the above peasant burn to ashes too.

Alexey25 wrote:

<quoted text>
May I inqire please what do you burn in your Estonian energy plants and in Estonian car engines?

Yes, you may. Thank you for asking.

Estonian largest energy plants burn local oil shale (very nasty and polluting)+ local wood.

Smaller energy plants also use natural gas, peat and oil from oil shale. Some trash gas as well.

In windy days up to 20% of electricity comes from wind.

As I said, nothing about Russia nor USA in particular.

Alexey25 wrote:

<quoted text>
May I inqire please what do you burn in your Estonian energy plants and in Estonian car engines?

Estonian car engines use imported gasoline and diesel.
In the near future Estonia is also planning to make diesel from oil shale - a very nasty process again and probably unprofitable at strict environmental tax regimes.

tarmo wrote:

<quoted text>
Estonian car engines use imported gasoline and diesel.
In the near future Estonia is also planning to make diesel from oil shale - a very nasty process again and probably unprofitable at strict environmental tax regimes.

Perhaps if you hooked a reindeer up to a cart it would be more environmentally friendly? You can even go from a cart with wheels to a sleigh depending on the time of the year.

pendragon,

I bet, tarmonko might even take your words seriously.

uther pendragon wrote:

<quoted text>
Perhaps if you hooked a reindeer up to a cart it would be more environmentally friendly?

Sorry to tell you, but there are no reindeers in Estonia.
Here we have elk, deers and roe deers - and none of them are domesticated. We do have some imported huskies, though.

uther pendragon wrote:

<quoted text>
You can even go from a cart with wheels to a sleigh depending on the time of the year.

Sure, why not.
The sea ice roads here in Estonia (longest in the world) are killing cars anyway.

Sleigh with a sail goes a long way, lets' hope it goes to the right direction.

OK, not the longest sea ice roads in the world, merely the longest in Europe.