Smoke from Russia's deadly wildfire reaches North Pole; NASA shares despairing image

With Russia's Siberia region grappling with the massive wildfire that engulfed several villages in the last one month, NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), on August 7, Friday, shared a picture which showed the flames had now reached the North Pole. 

The payload imaging sensor that was launched into Earth orbit by NASA in 1999 revealed that the smoke has travelled more than 3,000 km from Yakutia to reach the North Pole, a feat that appears to be a first in recorded history. The Imaging Spectroradiometer said that a wide band of smoke from the wildfires, which appeared to be entrained with the clouds, was seen over Nunavut, Canada and western Greenland on August 6, Friday.

Have a look at the image that was shared by NASA's MODIS

Over 3,600 firefighters involved in dousing wildfire

According to the regional task force dealing with the emergency, a dozen villages in northeastern Siberia’s Sakha-Yakutia republic were threatened by the wildfires. The authorities said that the firefighters faced a tough time while evacuating the residents of two villages to safer areas. Yakutia governor Aysen Nikolayev said that a total of 3,600 people have been working to contain about half of the blazes. The agency said that the emissions of carbon dioxide estimated by the European Union’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service have crossed over 505 megatons since the blaze erupted in early June this year. 

Over 505 megatons of carbon dioxide released due to wildfire

"The 2020 fire season was very severe, but the estimated total carbon dioxide equivalent came to 450 megatons for the entire season," said MODIS in a statement released on August 7, Saturday. This smoke primarily comes from the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) in Siberia which is the largest republic in Russia and is heavily covered by boreal forest. The northern part of the Sakha Republic has recorded some of the coldest temperatures on Earth, but this winter has set record high temperatures for the region, added the statement.

In recent years, the country has recorded high temperatures that many experts regard as a result of climate change. The hot weather coupled with the neglect of fire safety rules has caused an increasing number of wildfires. Experts also blame the worsening fire situation on a 2007 decision to disband a federal aviation network that spotted and combatted wildfires. 

(With inputs from AP and MODIS statement)

(Image Credit: AP)