Siberian Forest Fires - is the Planet at Risk?

Siberian Forest Fires - is the Planet at Risk?
by Aimee Jo Barrickman
Source used: http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,2763,1495903,00.html#article_continue

The Siberian forest fires and the largest in the world. They are vital to the planets health. In the last 20 years the have increased tenfold. Russian scientists warn that this summer the Siberian forest fires could get out of control, putting the planet at risk.

The scientists say that they not only don't have the money to control the huge forest fires, but they do not have the equipment either. The huge forest fires are often started illegally and purposely in the far east of Russia by rogue timber firms. These timber firms plan to sell cheap lumber to China.

Just two years ago, in one of the hottest summers in Europe, 22m hectares of oak, spruce, larch, fir, and Scots pine were destroyed, charred, scorched, and damaged from the fire. One day in June of that year (2003) a US Satellite recorded 157 fires across almost 11m hectares. These fires caused heavy smoke to rise to Kyoto 5,000 kilometers (3,107 miles) away.

Carbon dioxide is absorbed from the air by forests that release oxygen. The world's forests are part of the calculations behind the Kyoto agreement, ratified by Russia, Britain and many other nations, but not the US or Australia, to control the greenhouse emissions that fuel global warming. ..

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