admin /13 August, 2010
World feeling the heat as 17 countries experience record temperatures
2010 sees record highs in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine but also many African, Middle Eastern and Latin American countries
- John Vidal, environment editor
- guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 August 2010 13.28 BST
- Article history
A forest fire rages near the village of Golovanovo, Russia, last week. Temperatures in Moscow have now fallen to a more manageable 31C. Photograph: Igor Kharitonov/EPA
2010 is becoming the year of the heatwave, with record temperatures set in 17 countries.
Record highs have occurred in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine – the three nations at the centre of the eastern European heatwave which has lasted for more than three weeks – but also African, Middle Eastern and Latin American countries.
Temperatures in Moscow, which have been consistently 20C above normal, today fell to 31C (86F), and President Dmitry Medvedev cancelled a state of emergency in three out of seven Russian regions affected by forest fires.
Thousand of hectares of forest burned in the fires, killing 54 people and leaving thousands homeless. For days, Moscow was shrouded in smog, and environmentalists raised fears that the blaze could release radioactive particles from areas contaminated in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
