Not just the mountain west in the US on fire

[Old Rocks]

Arctic News: Fires are raging again across Russia

Back in April, thousands of hectares were burning when NASA captured above image of fires in a rural area north of Omsk, a city in south central Russia near the Kazakhstan border, according to the NASA report accompanying the image.

In May 6, 2012, the Voice of Russia reported some 11000 hectares (about 42.4 square miles) of forests in Siberia to be on fire.


Lena River, Siberia - Wikipedia
Earlier this month, eight Russian paratroopers died fighting a massive forest fire in southern Siberia, reports UPI.

Russia has now declared a state of emergency in several eastern regions, due to hundreds of wildfires, reports NASA

 

[CrusaderFrank]

that's normal.

 

[Old Rocks]

LOL. Frankie Boy, just when I think you can post nothing stupider, you prove me wrong with two words. Congratulations.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Forest fires happen all the time, why is this news?

 

[Dot Com]

that's normal.

link?

 

[CrusaderFrank]

that's normal.

link?

Are you claiming these are the first large forest fires in history?

 

[percysunshine]

I hope the fires don't burn the lone Siberian tree that proves global warming. That would be a tragedy.

 

[Dr.House]

Warmers need to do some more research...

There have been forest fires on the planet since, well, fucking ever...

 

[CrusaderFrank]

I hope the fires don't burn the lone Siberian tree that proves global warming. That would be a tragedy.

Oh!

Right!

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Warmers need to do some more research...

There have been forest fires on the planet since, well, fucking ever...

unprecedented forest fires

 

[Old Rocks]

http://www.iiasa.ac.at/Research/FOR/forest_cdrom/Articles/Shvidenko_et_al_2011_Wildfire.pdf

Two types of seasonal distribution of burnt areas are clearly revealed – spring and
(late) summer (Figure 5). The first one has a peak in spring, some time after thawing of the
snow cover and before greening. The second type has a more even distribution of burnt area
as a consequence of drought-affected spring and summer and is typical for years with
catastrophic fire. Specific features of such a fire season (e.g., seasons of 1998, 2003, 2008
and 2010 in different regions of the country) are: substantial increase of the share of crown
and steady ground fires; distribution of fire in usually unburned wetlands; and elevated
level of emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly methane and carbon oxide due to deep
soil burning.

 

[Old Rocks]

Siberia Burns : Natural Hazards

On June 18, 2012, a total of 198 wildfires burned across Russia and had charred an area that covered 8,330 hectares (32 square miles). Many were in central Russia, where firefighters have battled uncontrolled fires for months.

The latest flare-up prompted Russian authorities to declare a state of emergency in seven regions, including the Khanty-Mansiisk autonomous area, the Tyva Republic, the Sakha Republic, Krasnoyarsk, Amur, Zabaikalsky, and Sakhalin.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired these images of numerous fires and heavy smoke near the borders of Khanty-Mansiisk, Krasnoyarsk, and Tomsk at 1:20 p.m. local time (06:20 Universal Time) on June 18. Active fires are shown with red outlines. Numerous fires are burning through taiga in Krasnoyarsk (bottom), and a large pall of smoke to the south covers much of Tomsk (top).

According to Russian authorities, many of the fires started when people lost control of agricultural fires and campfires. However, lightning sparked some of the blazes as well.

According to the environmental group Greenpeace, more land in Russia has burned this year than in 2010, a year that intense wildfires affected western Russia and produced rare pyrocumulus “fire clouds.”

References

The Moscow Times (2012, June 18) State of Emergency Declared Due to Fires in Eastern Regions. Accessed June 18, 2012.
RT Network (2012, June 18) State of Emergency Declared in Siberia as Fires Rage. Accessed June 18, 2012.

NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response. Caption by Adam Voiland.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

CO2 causes Forest Fires

 

[percysunshine]

Oh Mann...the tree burned.

All global warming theory is down the tubes.

 

[Old Rocks]

Siberia burns - Arctic Sea Ice

But in 2010, meteorologist Michael Fromm saw another suspect far closer to northern Russia. Working at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., Fromm had spent the last decade studying how fires inject smoke into the upper atmosphere. His experience told him that at least one of the hundreds of fires burning in western Russia had probably generated a powerful, dangerous firestorm. ....

Large fires can create their own weather by rapidly heating the air above them. The heated air rises with smoke until water vapor in the air condenses into a puffy cloud. An odd-looking puff of white capping a dark column of smoke is the sign of a fire-formed, or pyrocumulus cloud.

Occasionally, if the superheated air rises fast and high enough, it forms a towering thundercloud. Like the thunderstorms that form on a hot summer’s day, the tops of these cauliflower-shaped clouds reach high enough into the atmosphere that ice crystals form. Those ice crystals electrify the cloud, creating lightning. Called pyrocumulonimbus clouds, the clouds are capable of dangerous lightning, hail, and strong winds. One such firestorm in 2003 pelted Canberra, Australia, with large, soot-darkened hail, produced a damaging tornado, and generated strong winds that caused the fire to explode into neighborhoods in the capital city.

Forgot to mention Colorado fire shows one of those clouds too (EO 18 June). Getting all too common.

Though this is even further from the Arctic, here's the link on the High Park fire that mentions pyrocumulus:
High Park Fire in Colorado : Natural Hazards

And in looking it up, found Earth Observatory has stitched together an Arctic view (date May 26):
High Park Fire in Colorado : Natural Hazards

 

[percysunshine]

Siberian trees are now melting Antarctic ice caps! Everyone run for their lives!

 

[Dr.House]

Warmers need to do some more research...

There have been forest fires on the planet since, well, fucking ever...

unprecedented forest fires

Warmers are fucking stupid....

 

[Old Rocks]

U.S. Drought Monitor

Of course, I think that the Florida panhandles drought is over.

 

[Dr.House]

Siberian trees are now melting Antarctic ice caps! Everyone run for their lives!

Evil trees are coming to kill us...

 

[CrusaderFrank]

the trees are fleeing the rising, acidic oceans