Russia records its hottest temperature in history

[Portastorm]

According to NASA, the smoke plume covering western Russia would span from San Francisco to Chicago if it were situated over the United States.

That is mind-numbing! Wow ... hoping for better conditions soon for our Russian friends.

[vbhoutex]

According to NASA, the smoke plume covering western Russia would span from San Francisco to Chicago if it were situated over the United States.

That is mind-numbing! Wow ... hoping for better conditions soon for our Russian friends.

That is insane!! Can't believe that it hasn't been on the news!! I hope they get relief soon!

[HurricaneRobert]

It reached 99 F in Finland (normally an icy country). 106 in Ukraine. 129 in Pakistan (and I thought humans could not survive that). The highest ever temperature in Russia was 111 F on July 11 in Kalmykia (a republic in the Northern Caucasus).

[Aslkahuna]

People can survive 129F if they know what to do-after all the inside of your car is at 140F or higher when you get into it on a Summer day after it's been sitting in the Sun. There have been forest fire smoke plumes that have extended from Western Canada to the US East Coast in the past and from Central America to Washington DC so from SFO to Chi town is not all that impressive.

Steve

[Nicko999]

The 2003 European heat wave was known as one of the biggest heat wave in the Planet's history. We have now a new winner.



http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=1569

[Nicko999]

OMG...

Moscow today:
High: 36C(97F)
Low: 23C(73.4F)

[Aslkahuna]

Hmmmm, that's about what we had in Tucson today for temperatures.

Steve

[SaskatchewanScreamer]

I really feel for the Russians and Europeans!!! What people here have to remember is that the temps posted are NOT what they are used to and I'm betting, unlike the people in Arizona, that the majority of Europeans don't have A/C and they are now sitting under an incredible amount of smoke so they can't open their windows/doors at night to let cool air in (and even those that do have A/C well its been reported those are being turned off because they too are drawing in the smoke). I can feel for them because my location used to have dry heat and then came the summer, where for one month we were well above our normal and hit a high of 50 C (heat and dew point combined ie Humidex),that near drove me and every other living thing here mad (we don't have A/C and even the places here that do had theirs break down due to the high moisture content of the air). BTW what is the *feels like* temperature in Europe/Russia?

I've had smoke from fires originating in the Rockies and Montana and northern Alberta and northern Saskatchewan and Northern Manitoba over my location but I've only seen one day, once, where it was as thick as what the peeps in Moscow are seeing. That, with those temps would be beyond a doubt, hell to live through!!!

[HurricaneRobert]

People around the world are going to have to move to the Arctic in a few years.

[Aslkahuna]

I doubt it. Adaptibility is the key if the Human Race can't adapt then by Nature's rules it must become extinct. Besides, if you buy the idea that it's all due to AGW then you must conclude that we brought it upon ourselves and have no room to complain.

Steve

[Nicko999]

Moscow today: high of 37C(99F) and a low of 23C(73.4F)

Over 15,000 likely dead in Russian heat wave

The Great Russian Heat Wave of 2010 brought temperatures of 37°C (99°F) to Moscow today, and smog and smoke from wildfires blanketed the city for a sixth straight day. Air pollution levels were 2 - 3 times the maximum safe level today, and peaked on Saturday, when when carbon monoxide hit 6.5 times the safe level. The death toll from heat and air pollution increased to approximately 330 people per day in Moscow in recent days, according to the head of the Moscow health department. Yevgenia Smirnova, an official from the Moscow registry office, said excess deaths in Moscow in July averaged 155 per day, compared to 2009. The heat wave began on June 27. These grim statistics suggest that in Moscow alone, the Great Russian Heat Wave of 2010 has likely killed at least 7,000 people so far. A plot of the departure of July 2010 temperatures from average (Figure 1) shows that the area of Russia experiencing incredible heat is vast, and that regions southeast of Moscow have the hottest, relative to average. Moscow is the largest city in Russia, with a population just over ten million, but there are several other major cities in the heat wave region. These include Saint Petersburg, Russia's 2nd most populous city (4.6 million), and Nizhny Novgorod, Russia's 5th most populous city (1.3 million people.) Thus, the Russian population affected by extreme heat is at least double the population of Moscow, and the death toll in Russia from the 2010 heat wave is probably at least 15,000, and may be much higher. The only comparable heat wave in European history occurred in 2003, and killed an estimated 40,000 - 50,000 people, mostly in France and Italy. While the temperatures in that heat wave were not as extreme as the Russian heat wave, the nighttime low temperatures in the 2003 heat wave were considerably higher. This tends to add to heat stress and causes a higher death toll. I expect that by the time the Great Russian Heat Wave of 2010 is over, it may rival the 2003 European heat wave as the deadliest heat wave in world history.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=1571

[HurricaneBill]

While Russia bakes, South America freezes:

Peru braces for 7th cold wave this winter

During the same time as the 2003 European heat wave, Peru suffered a cold wave that claimed 300 lives.

[SaskatchewanScreamer]

I doubt it. Adaptibility is the key if the Human Race can't adapt then by Nature's rules it must become extinct. Besides, if you buy the idea that it's all due to AGW then you must conclude that we brought it upon ourselves and have no room to complain.

Steve

Whether peeps believe that the extreme weather conditions were helped along by man or not the pollution we cause will be our demise sooner or later. Our species is the most dangerous this planet ever saw !!!

When it starts hurting/killing our own families though peeps may start thinking that those that believed coal burning electrical plants' pollution and exhaust from automobiles were right. No matter what people we are killing our planet bit by bit and so many keep having large families.

Hopefully whatever takes over after our planet heals from us will be much better stewards of it then we were.

[SaskatchewanScreamer]

I doubt it. Adaptibility is the key if the Human Race can't adapt then by Nature's rules it must become extinct. Besides, if you buy the idea that it's all due to AGW then you must conclude that we brought it upon ourselves and have no room to complain.

Steve

Whether peeps believe that the extreme weather conditions were helped along by man or not the pollution we cause will be our demise sooner or later. Our species is the most dangerous this planet ever saw !!!

When it starts hurting/killing our own families though peeps may start thinking that those that believed coal burning electrical plants' pollution and exhaust from automobiles were right. No matter what people we are killing our planet bit by bit and so many keep having large families.

Hopefully whatever takes over after our planet heals from us will be much better stewards of it then we were.

[Aslkahuna]

You call the Human Race the most dangerous-I use the term most destructive. After our reign is over, whatever comes next will HAVE to do better because our desire to destroy is so great I can't conceive of any other species that's likely to survive us being worse. All species when they overpopulate and befoul their own nest (like we are doing) ultimately suffer a population crash and when such a crash occurs Nature takes as many out as it can with no regard for economic status or political power.

Steve

[Nicko999]

The temperature hit 37C(99F) in Moscow once again today.

8 out of 10 daily records broken this month.

[Cyclenall]

I've been following this for a while and it seems so out of the ordinary it's almost unworldly. This will give the GW activists huge amounts of ammo for sure and I can't really blame them either this time. It's been really hot all over the world this year including here in Ontario where we are getting one of the hottest and longest summers ever. In my view this has been a perfect summer so far!

This is definitely the most epic heatwave I have ever read about and is probably the king of all of them. The media is not paying enough attention to this, similar to the situation in Pakistan. Some are thinking around 9,000 deaths and 700 a day in Moscow alone? Where is the outrage?

I also have a question to any mets willing to answer, I read that some overnight lows during this heatwave have been as high as 34ºC!!!!! Now when I read this I doubted it and this is because I haven't heard of such even in the warmest of areas and I know for sure that has never happened in Ontario that I know of. We are at a much lower latitude and never have seen such. What's going on?

[Nicko999]

I've been following this for a while and it seems so out of the ordinary it's almost unworldly. This will give the GW activists huge amounts of ammo for sure and I can't really blame them either this time. It's been really hot all over the world this year including here in Ontario where we are getting one of the hottest and longest summers ever. In my view this has been a perfect summer so far!

This is definitely the most epic heatwave I have ever read about and is probably the king of all of them. The media is not paying enough attention to this, similar to the situation in Pakistan. Some are thinking around 9,000 deaths and 700 a day in Moscow alone? Where is the outrage?

I also have a question to any mets willing to answer, I read that some overnight lows during this heatwave have been as high as 34ºC!!!!! Now when I read this I doubted it and this is because I haven't heard of such even in the warmest of areas and I know for sure that has never happened in Ontario that I know of. We are at a much lower latitude and never have seen such. What's going on?

Not a chance... 24C yes but not 34!

[Aslkahuna]

34C would be slightly below the record high minimum for Phoenix (96F or 35.6C). Death Valley and many other desert locations worldwide have record high minima above 38C (100F). However, I doubt that Russia has seen that up near Moscow-though remember that nighttime hours are very short up there and the smoke will hold in the heat overnight.

Steve

[SaskatchewanScreamer]

Mankind must abandon earth or face extinction: Hawking
Mon Aug 9, 4:57 PM
LONDON (AFP) - Mankind's only chance of long-term survival lies in colonising space, as humans drain Earth of resources and face a terrifying array of new threats, warned British scientist Stephen Hawking on Monday.

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"The human race shouldn't have all its eggs in one basket, or on one planet," the renowned astrophysicist told the website Big Think, a forum which airs ideas on many subjects from experts.

"Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain inward looking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space," he added.

He warned that the human race was likely to face an increased number of events that threaten its very existence, as the Cuban missile crisis did in 1962.

The Cold War showdown saw the United States and Soviet Union in a confrontation over Soviet missiles deployed in Cuba, near US shores, and brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.

"We are entering an increasingly dangerous period of our history," said Hawking.

"Our population and our use of the finite resources of planet Earth are growing exponentially, along with our technical ability to change the environment for good or ill."

If we want to survive beyond the next century, "our future is in space," added the scientist.

"That is why I'm in favour of manned, or should I say 'personed', space flight."

His comments came after he warned in a recent television series that mankind should avoid contact with aliens at all costs, as the consequences could be devastating.