Moscow Smoke Returns After Four Days of Relief as Forest, Bog Fires Burn
Moscow saw a “sharp” rise in the concentration of carbon monoxide and other pollutants in the air as the Russian capital continued to struggle with smoke from forest fires and burning bogs.
The concentration of pollutants in the air jumped above admissible levels from 8 a.m. before beginning to recede after noon, the city’s environmental protection department said on its website today. The level of contamination is expected to decrease in the coming hours, it said.
Moscow enjoyed four days of relief from smog before the winds shifted today, bringing back the smoke from wildfires which started enveloping the capital on Aug. 6. Heat, drought and fire have hobbled Russian agriculture, leading the government to ban grain exports from today to the end of the year.
Emergency crews are battling 498 fires, including 35 burning peat bogs, covering a total area of 53,500 hectares (206.6 square miles), a decrease of 3,000 hectares over the past 24 hours, the Emergency Situations Ministry said today on its website.
The “situation remains complex” in the Ryazan and Vladimir regions bordering Moscow, the ministry said. The smoke that shrouded the capital today originated primarily from wildfires in those two regions, according to the statement.
To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Abelsky in Moscow at pabelsky@bloomberg.net.
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