Climate Change Concerns: Pt 2 Don’t let the headline fool you

Though the headline (“Putin Convinced Climate Change Now A Threat” Aug. 24, London Free Press) sounds almost positive and the Russian Prime Minister at least admits the climate is changing, his recent visit with climate scientists working at the Samoilovsky island station was likely scheduled just so he could appear concerned in some small way.

After all, his country just suffered through a two-month heat wave, Russia’s worst on record. (Click here for more details and link to full article).

Though Putin will likely do little to reduce his country’s greenhouse gas emissions (Russia was the fourth biggest emitter of carbon dioxide in 2009, according to energy firm BP) if he revisits the Samoilovsky island station on a regular basis he’ll get a first-hand glimpse of the costly changes related to global warming and his own desire to drive the Russian economy on the back of cheap fossil fuel.


["Melting permafrost": Please link to photo site]

His island station scientists (who began studying the melting Siberian permafrost in 1998) will likely be able to tell him that “the melting Siberian permafrost - which stretches up to 1.5 km into the ground - will accelerate the global warming process further, as huge quantities of methane gas are released into the Earth’s atmosphere.”

First hand evidence may open his eyes.

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Putin once joked that, because of global warming, Russians would have to buy fewer fur coats.

Was he high on methane at the time?

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