Our Planet Climate and Geopolitics
Flooding caused by fast-melting snow from the Urals has forced more than 100,000 people in western Russia and Kazakhstan to evacuate their homes. Orenburg, a Russian city with a population of 550,000, is witnessing its worst floods for 80 years with water levels in the local river rising over 10 metres. The Kremlin says it’s receiving live updates about the situation and has warned there could be more “nature anomalies” to come. Although a renowned climate-sceptic, Putin has in recent years seen economic advantage in preparing for extreme weather events. Russia is warming 2.5 times faster than the rest of the world. The flooded areas are key to the country’s wheat harvest and Western Siberia is the planet’s largest hydrocarbon basin. He cannot afford to let “anomalies” become too regular an occurrence.