Russia's Northeast Coast Is Buried In Unbelievably Deep Snow

Digging out from incredible snows in Kamchatka, a
region on the Pacific Ocean in Northeast Russia 

I saw a lot of images on social media showing ridiculous amounts of snow in Kamchatka, a  region o Russia on the Pacific Coast.

Those images looked so surreal that I thought it was all just AI slop.

Turns out at least a few of those images are the real deal, even if many others were fake.

Kamchatka, a city and region near Russia's Northeast Coast, has had storm after storm since December. The snow depth on the ground is at least as deep as a normal person is tall. 

According to the Moscow Times:

"In December, Petropavlovsk-Kamchastsky saw triple the monthly average of snowfall, while January 1-16 saw around 150% more than the monthly average for the period. The average height of snow in the city reached 170 centimeters (5.5 feet) with drifts exceeding 2.5 meters (8 feet) in certain neighborhoods.

'The last time we saw something like this was over 50 years ago, in the early 1970,' said Vera Polyakov, head of Kamchatka's Hydrometeorology Center. 'These conditions are exceptionally rare as far as modern observations go.'"

Reuters reports that close to 33 feet of snow has fallen since early December in the region around Kamchatka.

Schools have been closed and public transport is shut down. 

In the past couple of days, temperatures have risen to just above freezing. That is causing huge amounts of snow to slide off roofs, which is dangerous for anyone standing nearby. A 63-year-old man died when  he was struck by a massive snowfall off of a nearby roof. 

Enormous, falling icicles are another danger. 

More snow and wind is forecast for Kamchatka today through next Monday with temperatures hovering near freezing. 

The Kamchatka region is on Russia's northeastern coast, across the Bering Sea.  The area has a population of roughly 310,00 people.

Storms similar to nor'easters in New England and southeastern Canada regularly sweep through the region. Kamchatka often sees big snowstorms. But they've never seen anything like this in many decades, at least.

If you think you've heard of Kamchatka before, it might be from this summer, when a powerful offshore earthquake rattled the region and generated a damaging tsunami that slammed into the coast. 

Video:

A lot of videos I've seen of Kamchatka's snow appear to be at least partly AI. I've never seen so much AI slop online connected to one incident. There were several "photos" of snow drifts reaching to the 10th or higher floors of apartment blocks. Didn't happen. Welcome to the grim new world in which everything is fake, and nothing can be trusted, I guess.

But I found one video that I THINK is genuine. Part of it contains images of people gleefully jumping from upper story windows in apartment blocks and floofing into deep snow, Yes, I know "floofing" isn't a real word, but you get the picture. 

  

Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below click on that. 

 

Later in the day, the New York Post put up this even better video of the incredible snow in Kamchatka. Again, click on this link to view or if you see the image below, click on that. 

Intense Cold In Corners Of China, Russia Are One Big Exception To Generally Warm Global Winter

Reports out of northeastern China (pink and red areas)
indicate parts of the region might have had all
time record low temperatures for the nation.

 It's winter, and it has to be cold somewhere, 

Better elsewhere than here in Vermont, at least as far as I'm concerned. I'm definitely no fan of temperatures far below zero. 

In northeastern China in the past couple of days, the temperature got as low as 63 below zero. I hasten to add that this is not as of yet a confirmed report. 

If the report is true and the measurement is verified as accurate,  this would be the coldest temperature recorded in China any year, anywhere. A few other areas got under 60 below in this intense cold snap.

The deep chill is spreading into adjacent North and South Korea, and on to Japan, but the chill will not set as many records there as it has in China and Russia.

Yep, I mentioned Russia. That's because before the deep cold reached China, it was in part of Russia, namely Siberia.

Around January 18, the temperature reportedly dropped to 81 below in Tongulak, Russia. Now, that's normally a very cold place that often gets into the 50s and 60s below zero in the winter. (I would NOT be able to stand that!)

Still, that 81 below, if verified would be a record low for that town, and the coldest it has reached anywhere in Russia since 1982.

Part of the reason for this intense cold is the polar vortex has been far north and tightly wound for weeks.  That has helped keep the mid-latitudes warm. Often, the polar vortex will stretch, or pieces of it will break off, causing nasty cold spells in Canada, the United States, Russia or parts of Asia.

Of course, those blasts of Arctic air get rid of some of the intense cold in the polar vortex. For weeks now, though, the polar vortex hasn't stretched, wobbled or broken, so the air under it has just been getting colder and colder and colder in the darkness of an Arctic winter. 

Now, the polar vortex is finally showing some signs of instability.  The cold in Siberia and China was probably the first effect of that. 

Meteorologists see signs that parts of the United States, especially northwestern and central parts of the nation, could see some pretty intense cold by in the final days of January and the first few days of February. 

However, we don't know quite yet exactly how cold it will get and how widespread the chill will get.

Now that I've mentioned a possible all time low temperature for a nation, I'm sure some wags or idiots will announce that proves climate change is a hoax.

Um, no. 

The amount of climate change we've had so far definitely tilts things so that the chances of record warmth are greater than that of record cold. But climate change does not entirely get rid of the chances of dramatic dips in temperature. 

One example of the this is the number of nations or territories that experienced all time hottest temperature records compared to the number that saw all time record lows.

Eleven nations and territories saw all time record highs in 2022, while three saw all time record lows. 

Hot Weekend Here, But Elsewhere In The World, Ridiculous! Our Time Will Come, Though

People in Tokyo's Ginza district use umbrellas to shield
themselves from the intense sun during a record heat
wave last Saturday. Photo from AFP-JIJI

We had our first spell of 90 degree weather in the Champlain Valley over the weekend, but it wasn't as hot as it could be. We didn't set any real record highs.  

If you don't like heat, we got off easy. Especially since the hot spell in Vermont was brief, and it wasn't all that humid during this episode.

Elsewhere in the world, though, we're already having another summer of insane record high temperatures. I've already posted about the extreme European heat of a week or two ago, but since then, there have been other incredible hot spots. 

So let's dive in and look.

As the Associated Press reports:

"In China's northern Henan province Friday, Xuchang hit 107.8 degrees and Dengfeng hit 106.9 for their hottest days on record, according to global extreme weather tracker Maximiliano Herrera. And in Japan Friday, Tokamachi and Tsuanan set a time heat records while several cities broke monthly marks, he said." 

No fewer than 25 cities in China recorded their hottest temperature on record for any date of the year Froday. Beijing roasted at 102 degrees.

Tokyo, Japan just tied its record for the hottest June day with a high of 97 degrees, which was also hottest for so early in the season. At least nine other Japanese cities established new all time highs for June. 

Isesaki, a city about 50 miles north of Tokyo, reached 104 degrees Saturday, setting a new June record high for the entire nation of Japan.  

 Way up in Siberia, The town of Tazovskoe set a June record of 90 degrees. Some Arctic islands way up near the North Pole, near 80N have lost all of their snow, the earliest on record that it has disappeared in the summer. 

Parts of the Middle East and central Asia area also baking.  The port cit of Bander-e-Dayyer in Iran reached a whopping 127 degrees this past week.  The temperature reached 113 in Turkmenistan and 112 in Kazakhstan.  

The heat in the United States hasn't set all time records, but it has certainly been widespread.  No fewer than 15 states reported high temperatures of at least 100 degrees on Thursday. 

The hot weather is temporarily easing in the U.S. for the next couple of days, though heat advisories remained in effect for the Pacific Northwest through Monday.  No really extreme heat waves are in store for the nation at least through July 1.

But remember, there's plenty of time for renewed heat waves in July and August throughout the northern hemisphere.

The heat records I mentioned above have been coming fast and furiously.  Same has been true in the last few years, as I've noted above.

Of course, records are made to be broken, so you're always going to see a few record highs and a few record lows broken from time to time. But the fast pace of these heat waves - especially monthly and all time - is a hallmark of climate change.

Climate change is super charging heat waves. What would otherwise be forgettable hot spells have become unprecedented blasts of torrid conditions.

It can happen anywhere, anytime. I've said that so far, we in Vermont have had a Goldilocks summer. Sure it was hot this past weekend and chilly the weekend before, but we haven't had any kind of unprecedented weather so far. 

Overall, this summer is at least starting out cooler than recent ones. But there's nothing stopping us for experiencing heat Vermont has never seen before. It's really a matter of time with climate change. 

I don't know if that will happen this summer, next summer or a few or several summers from now. But eventually, Vermont's all time hottest reading of 105 degrees, set way back in 1911, and Burlington's all time record of 101 set during the World War II year of 1944, will seem quaint and cool. 

 

Shock Waves From Climate Change Is, Will Get Assist From Geopolitics

The war in Ukraine is one example of how climate change
doesn't work alone. Climate change, war, geopolitics and 
humanitarian crimes could combine to create
increasingly severe worldwide food crises

The war between Russia and Ukraine helps highlight how fragile the global food supply is, if you think about it. 

Scientists and many others are worried over how climate change is threatening, and will threaten global food supplies. Droughts, floods and temperatures extremes are already at least nibbling at the edges of our already fragile food supply.

Our enemy climate change doesn't work alone. It unfortunately has some powerful allies, including geopolitics, war and greed. The combination will contribute to starvation, migrant crises, displacement and political upheaval.  

At this point, Ukraine and Russia could be one example of how all this works.  

As PolticoEU explains:

"Russia's war in Ukraine has sent a shockwave through international food markets, worsening the already dire problem of global hunger by disrupting supply and inflating prices. The risks tipped the poorest, most famine-ravaged regions of the planet into political chaos and creating an unprecedented migration, according to David Beasley, the World Food Programme's executive director."

This week, a United Nations task force said the Ukraine war is "supercharging" a finance, food and energy crisis in poorer countries.  The war is another complication for these poorer nations already dealing with Covid-19, climate change and a lack of funding that could help fuel economic recoveries. 

The UN task force says 69 countries with an overall population of 1.2 billion are trying, and largely failing to overcome these three crises. 

 The PolitcoEU article doesn't mention climate change as a source of this potential global crisis. However, the publication points out that Russia and Ukraine are among the world's biggest exporters of grain, and the war will surely disrupt global distribution of these commodities. Half of Africa's grain comes form Ukraine and Russia. Both nations are major fertilizer exporters. 

For us in the rich west, that just means sticker shock when we run down to Walmart, or Kroger, or whatever your local grocery store is. 

Stable, major grain producers like China, the United States and Canada can pick up some of the slack, at least we hope. Drought or other extreme weather in these nations could always make things worse. (There's troubling signs of drought in the U.S. Great Plains, for instance). 

It won't be a case of no food at all. But shortages would increase global prices, and poorer nations won't be able to afford the commodities. 

World Food Programme's Executive Director, David Beasley, told Politico that billions of dollars must come in from richer nations and billionaires to avoid famine, destabilization and mass migration.

"If you think we've got hell on earth now, you just get ready.....If we neglect northern Africa, northern Africa's coming to Europe. If we neglect the Middle East, the Middle East is coming to Europe."

Which, among many other awful things, destabilizes Europe. And probably by extension, the United States. 

There's already a refugee crisis in Europe as Ukrainians flee the war.

And let's acknowledge the elephant in the room. Ukrainians are white. They obviously deserve all the help the world can give them.  The walking war crime that is Vladimir Putin has unleashed his horrors, and the West does need to counteract the suffering he has caused in any way we can. 

As you will recall, though, migrants from Africa and the Middle East don't get so big a reception when they arrive on Europe's shores.  There's a lot of reasons for that, and one of them might be race.  A new flood of migrants to Europe and possibly the United States would guarantee lots more political unrest. And contribute to authoritarianism.

Food shortages combined with political unrest can and does fuel migration from places like Africa

Authoritarians use migrants as bogeymen to consolidate their power, convincing their population that they are under assault from "them," all aiming to take away their jobs and their way of life. Never mind that the migrants just want to create a new life in which they're not starving, and can actually get ahead if they work hard enough. 

One possible way to reduce migration is that World Food Programme. They can't change hideous regimes that terrorize their citizens and force migration. But where food is a key issue, donations from rich countries can help. Whether the cause is climate change or some horrible dictator.

We now live in the new Gilded Age. I mean, let's check out the rich guys. 

Elon Musk's net worth at last count was $223 billion as of February. Jeff Bezos is worth $178 billion.

The rest of the top 10 richest people on Earth are worth a total of $923 billion, according to Investopedia.

True, many of these mega-billionaires do give away a fair amount of money. But honestly.

People who are innovative and make a lot of money because of that deserve to be rich.  Unlike what some on the right wing would say, pretty much nobody on the left side of politics wants to take all their money away.

True, some billionaires do give quite a lot of money away to worthwhile causes. But if you have over a $100 billion, and you gave away half that, even, you're still doing pretty damn well. Something like $50 billion can do an incredible amount of good.

I'm not suggesting we seize this wealth. I just think these billionaires should think a little more about the world around them.    

Climate change, political unrest, very bad players, worldwide criminals and the maldistribution of wealth aren't exactly easy to cure, especially when they're all combined into one big mess. But Ukraine is a reminder that climate change is bad enough. When you combine it with humankind's really bad record with geopolitics, it really does turn into an existential threat. 

If You Protest Outdoors When It's 55 Below, It Must Be Really Important

Anti-Putin protests in the frigid city of Yakutsk, Siberia,
Russia as temperatures hovered in the minus 50s. 

Many thousands of people across Russia demonstrated Saturday against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny at the behest of Vladimir Putin's henchmen. 

Navalny was poisoned last year by Russian operatives.  He returned to Moscow recently, and was immediately jailed by the Kremlin.

There appears to be growing revulsion in Russia against Putin, but of course it's such an oppressive regime that it's hard to fight against him.

A measure of how intense at least some people in Russia detest Putin and support Navalny came in the Siberian city of Yakutsk. 

The temperature there was in the mid minus 50s, and the air was thick was freezing fog, typical of towns and cities in the high Arctic amid such extreme cold. 

It looks like it was too cold for violent clashes, the kind they happened in other parts of Russia. But people  had to be really passionate in their anti-Putin positions to go out in such weather. 

Following is a brief video of the Yakutsk protest. Looks brutal:

Vladivostok, Russia REALLY Iced In

Better them than us, I suppose. An ice storm this week
crippled Vladivostok, Russia. Photo from Reuters. 

We talked yesterday about how easy the onset of winter has been here in Vermont so far.  

That is obviously not the case everywhere, and Exhibit 1 for a terrible start to the season is Vladivostok, Russia. 

Vladivostok is a port city of about 600,000 people on Russia's Pacific coast a little northeast of North Korea. 

The city is certainly far enough north to get some really tough winter weather on occasion, but for them, this was one for the record books. 

The city had probably its worst ice storm in many decades this week, cutting power to much of the city.  Parts of Vladivostok won't have power for many days. 

Strong winds hitting the ice laden trees has caused a large share of them to collapse

A viral video, shown below, shows a man trying to clear ice off his car, narrowly being missed by a large concrete slab from a high rise that was dislodged by the ice. 

Another scene from icy Vladivostok. Photo from Reuters.

A major suspension bridge in Vladivostok was closed, snarling traffic even further in the city.  The bridge is longest cable-stayed bridge in the world.  

It was closed because big chunks of ice were falling from the bridge cables.  Images from Vladivostok on social media remind me of the Great Ice Storm of 1998 in Vermont, Quebec, New York and Maine.  

Here in Vermont, a few places might get a little freezing rain tonight as some mixed precipitation comes in.  There will probably be some slick spots on roads overnight here and there, but we expect nothing remotely close to the chaos in Vladivostok. 

Videos:

The guy who almost got killed by that falling slab of concrete:

Next video begins with that concrete slab clip, but following that is a lot of other scenes from the icy city: