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| CBSNews - CBS News - Tuesday, July 30, 2019 |
Moscow -- Gigantic forest fires have regularly raged through the vast expanses of Russia's Siberia, but the magnitude of this year's blazes has reached an exceptional level, with fears of a long-term impact on the environment. As fires sweep across millions of acres, enveloping entire cities in black smoke and noxious fumes, environmentalists warn of a disaster threatening to accelerate the melting of the Arctic.
More than 7.9 million acres were in the grip of fires on Monday, mainly in the vast regions of Yakutia in the north and Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk in Siberia, authorities said.
The fires, triggered by dry thunderstorms in temperatures above 86 degrees Fahrenheit, were spread by strong winds, Russia's federal forestry agency said.