064 The Arctic is on Fire

Thinking about the Arctic, we usually have ice in our minds. But fires have been part of the regular summer program in the Arctic tundra for years. However, this year puts everything in the shade. Along with record temperatures, there is a devastating picture of large-scale circumpolar fires around the globe. And while Western media describe unprecedented fires in Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Scandinavia in particular, fires larger by far in Arctic Russia are hardly noticed. It took weeks for the Russian government to declare a state of emergency for the affected areas. The development can hardly be stopped now, since the greenhouse gases contained in the thawing soil of the tundra further fuel the fires and escape into the atmosphere, making more such mega blazes likely in the coming years through a so called positive feedback loop.