Russia battles wildfires amid record warm weather

Wildfires raging in Siberia in record summer temperatures have decreased considerably over the past week, Russia's forest service said yesterday, as it battles blazes by cloud seeding and explosives. Both the number and intensity of fires in Siberia and parts of Alaska have increased since mid-June, resulting in the highest carbon emissions for the month -- 59 million tonnes of CO2 -- since records began in 2003, it said. Russia's Aerial Forest Protection Service said it was trying to suppress 136 fires over 43,000 hectares (430 square kilometres) as of yesterday. However most of the fires have been deemed too remote and expensive to handle, with over 333,000 hectares currently ablaze in areas where all firefighting efforts have stopped, it said.