Monthly Archives: August 2010
Oh, beehave
Recall that Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov took a while to come back from his August 2 vacation to deal with the extraordinary toxic smoke situation in Moscow because, according to his spokesman, “What is the problem? What, do we have … Continue reading
Out with it
Moscow authorities have been forced to acknowledge that the heat and smoke of the last week have doubled the city’s mortality rates. Some estimates put the number at 2.5 times the normal rate. This comes after weeks of speculation that … Continue reading
Mensch
You might recall that I had some four letter words for Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov who, through his asshole spokesman, refused to cut his vacation short in order to come back to his city, which is absolutely choking in smoke. … Continue reading
This is what Russia looks like today
A little better, which you wouldn’t be able to tell by the smoke still choking Moscow. via Pozhar.Yandex.ru
Voronezh
A video from July 29 of the fires in hard-hit Voronezh, passed along by The Independent‘s Shaun Walker:
No, really, it gets worse
I really didn’t think it was possible for the smoke in Moscow to get worse, but Russia continues to surprise. More fires have sprung up overnight, bringing the total to 853, up from 831. 52 people are dead. Somehow, the … Continue reading
And it gets worse
Just when you didn’t think it could get any worse, it does. (This is, after all, Russia.) The World Wildlife Federation is concerned that, just as the Emergency Ministry fears, fires in the Bryansk region may send radioactivity into the … Continue reading
Surprise: lots more death in Moscow
Today, the Russian press is reporting a sharp uptick in deaths during what has been a horrendous heat wave, with temperatures constantly breaking the 130-year records that had just been set the day before. Earlier today, Interfax reported that deaths … Continue reading
This is what Russia looks like right now
via Yandex.ru
Apocalypse now
This morning, I woke up thinking there was snow outside. Turns out, the reason the light was so diffuse is because today the smoke from the fires is worse than it has ever been. It has been spotted by a … Continue reading
