On the frontlines of climate change: First half of 2020 warmest 6 months in Russia since records began

As global warming accelerates, temperature records are being broken every year. In Russia, the period from January to June this year was the warmest six-month spell since meteorological observations began.

“It turns out that the average temperature in Russia, for six months of 2020, is the highest in 130 years of meteorology, for the entire period of instrumental observations since 1891,” Roman Vilfand, scientific director of the national Hydrometeorological Center, said.

He added that the all-time-high was mainly due to the unusually warm winter months.

In January, the temperature was, on average, 10-11 degrees Celsius higher than normal. Last month, Vilfand noted that Russia had seen more than 240 broken weather records in the first half of the year.

However, this year “is special,” he said.

On June 20, Russia’s climate change woes made international headlines when the small town of Verkhoyansk in Siberia experienced the highest temperature ever detected within the Arctic Circle – 38 degrees Celsius.

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