Siberia is an extremely cold place during winters, but if the climate change keeps the pace, large parts of it may become inhabitable by the end of the 21 century, a recent study concluded.
Would you move to Siberia?
The idea to find a Russian bride may sound weird to some people, but if we believe the scientists, Siberia soon may be an attractive option to settle, and the global warming is to thank.
The united team of researchers (the National Institute of Aerospace from US and Krasnoyarsk Federal Research Center from Russia) made this conclusion based on various climate scenarios, to determine the viability of human settlements to survive the change our planet is unlikely to escape.
If we look at the map of Russia, the Asian part of the largest country in the world accounts for 77% of its territory. Population-wise, however, the numbers are just the opposite: Only 27% of Russian citizens live in Asia.
No wonders why: The living conditions in a large part of Russia’s territory in Asia are uninhabitable.
But this may change, and the way we as humankind keep producing CO2 is a proof it’s not a science fiction.
Even Europeans moved to America because of the climate change
Several years of bad crops yielding were to blame for the waves of migrants to the Northern America, an earlier study pointed out.
Elena Parfenova from the Krasnoyarsk Federal Research Center pointed out that it is not new: Previous migrations of humans on the large scale were caused by climate change.
The humans were able to adapt, although in our times they are much less reliant on the climate and the environment.
The researchers set to explore how the hardly inhabitable parts of the vast Russian territory would fare within the various global warming scenarios, and whether the new reality would make these lands more inhabitable.
Two major scenarios were used: One using a mild climate change scenario and the second one accounting for greater changes in weather patterns (RCP 2.6 and 8.5).
The researchers checked how the hardly inhabitable parts of the vast Russian territory would fare within the various global warming scenarios.
How will the climate change?
The 3 most important indicators scientists wanted to check were harshness of winters, the permafrost, and the ecological potential.
- Under the mild scenario, winter temperatures in Siberia would rise by 3.4°C; summer temperatures by 1.9°C; precipitation will rise by 60 mm.
- Under the severe scenario, temperatures are going to come up by 9.1°C in winter and by 5.7°C in summer; precipitation will rise by 140 mm.
If the more extreme scenario come to play, then the now uninhabitable parts of Russian Asia would become rather liveable by 2080. The permafrost coverage, which is now at 65% would drop to 40% by 2080, allowing people to occupy larger territories.
Even in the milder scenario the liveability of Siberia would improve by 15% in terms of the territory. This would allow to increase the population 5 times.
Parfenova stated the reason for low population in the area was also due to poor infrastructure.
Investment in the infrastructure coupled with modern technologies would possibly make Siberia very attractive.
Ready to make Siberia your home? Check our post about free land in Russia!
- Did you know any Russian citizen can get 1 ha of land for free?
- And any Ukrainian citizen is eligible to get 5 pieces of land for free?
You may need to reconsider your whole dating strategy. She may be richer than you! She just doesn’t realize that.
Read also:
- Global warming was the reason for evolution of life
- Is it always cold in Russia?
- Russian Babies Have Better Immunity Than Western Infants
- Yakutia, Russia: What people do at -55˚C (-67˚F)?
Unfortunately, the standards of living in most parts of Siberia are really low; no job opportunities, no good education and possibility of having a carrier. Most men become miners as there are no other options. Siberia can be an attractive destination with its splendid nature, but only if people start living better there!
As a person who has been living in Siberia from my childhood, I don’t believe that one day people all over the world will come to Siberia with their families to live. Of course, the climate is changing. But the living conditions in Siberia are becoming worse and worse: there are more strong winds in winter and much haze over the city in summer, so that people hardly can breathe. I live in one of the biggest cities of Siberia — Krasnoyarsk, and also it’s one of the dirtiest cities on the world.