Satellite Images Record How Wildfires Have Destroyed One Million Hectares of Forests in Western Russia - UNEP Global Environmental Alert Service (GEAS) September 2010

Recent satellite images show that the summer fires in 2010 destroyed more than one million hectares of forests in western Russia alone and harmed approximately 40 000 ha of protected forest area (UNEP 2010). At one point, states of emergency were in effect in 14 regions in Russia. Forest fires in the western region around Moscow (Figures 1) produced smoke, dust, and dangerous gases that polluted the air; in some places, carbon monoxide was 10 times the permitted maximum (Figure 2). At least 53 people have died and 806 have needed medical attention. Houses have burned and harvests have been lost—including some 10 million hectares of grain (Gilbert 2010).