Sweltering Heat Turns Moscow into Dirty Sahara

The July of 2010 will become one of the hottest months in the history of meteorological observations in Russia. Specialists already say that the current summer temperatures in the country are the highest in 130 years.

Photo: Sweltering Heat Turns Moscow into Dirty Sahara

Sweltering Heat Turns Moscow into Dirty Sahara

There is hardly any wind in the Russian capital, which leads to the concentration of toxic substances and dirt in the air. A ride in the Moscow metro has turned into a ride in hell. Temperatures in the Moscow subway are similar to those outside - 31 degrees above zero Centigrade.

On Saturday and Sunday the heat will become even stronger - 36-37 degrees. Muscovites currently consume 3.6 million cubic meters of water every day. The anomalous heat seriously affects the work of the city's energy systems. The consumption of electric power in Moscow has increased by 1,000 megawatts, which is 8 percent higher than the normal consumption of energy during this period.

Russia Today: Drownings triple as Russians escape summer heat

However, specialists say that the energy systems of the capital are safe and prepared for hot weather. Everyone in Moscow remembers the blackout of 2005, when almost the entire city was left without electricity for hours as a result of a breakdown at one of the electrical substations.

A funny, yet an insane incident took place in the east of Moscow today. Central heating was turned on in one of the apartment buildings in the middle of summer heat. Radiators turned hot in building No.6 on Reutovskaya Street. Even those tenants of the building, who have air conditioning systems in their apartments, say that it is impossible to stay inside.

"We all had to go outside because the radiators went so hot that you can not even touch them!" a woman living in the building said.

European scientists say that such hot weather on the European continent - about 40 degrees above zero - can become a norm by the middle of the 21st century. Average July temperatures in Europe may reach 50 degrees Centigrade by the end of the century, they added.

Average global temperatures from January-June 2010 have been the warmest since records began in 1880, a report issued on the U.S. Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website said on Friday.

The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for June 2010 was the warmest on record at 16.2 degrees Celsius (61.2 degrees Fahrenheit), which is 0.68 Celsius degrees above the 20th century average of 15.5 degrees Celsius (59.9 degrees Fahrenheit), RIA Novosti reports.

"Warmer-than-average conditions dominated the globe, with the most prominent warmth in Peru, the central and eastern contiguous U.S., and eastern and western Asia," the report said.

The report also said that the area covered by Arctic Sea ice has reduced by 10.6% against the 1979-2000 average level, RIA Novosti says.