MOSCOW. (Viktor Danilov-Danilyan for RIA...
in Russia due to anthropogenic factors is about one degree. In Siberia, it is four to six degrees-enough to shrink the permafrost area. Pernicious effects are visible even now, with the borders of the taiga, forest tundra and tundra itself receding northward-suffice it to compare space photographs from 30 years ago with the latest ones.The change endangers oil pipelines and the entire infrastructure of Siberia's west and northwest. Permafrost thawing has not yet achieved a scale that poses a threat of infrastructural accidents-but we can never be too careful.
Warming also poses a great danger to regional flora and fauna, which have to undergo a very painful adaptation process. Considerable warming will result in changes to ecosystems, for example, broadleaved woods ousting the coniferous taiga. Warming makes the climate unstable, with bitter frosts and sultry summers, which is bad for both forest types-conifers suffer in the heat, while broadleaf trees do not
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