April 10, 2017

A group of Russian scholars from the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of RAS and Institute of Geophysics of RAS developed a climatic model that allows determining the regions on the map of The European part of Russia, which are most vulnerable to natural catastrophes. This news is presented in an article, published in Ecological Mining Journal.

Satellite data are used as basis for predictions. So, for the first time the scholars managed to trace the ecosystem changes subject to climate. According to the professionals, understanding of the structure of this process is a key parameter in computing the consequences of global warming.

“During wet and warm climate periods, swamps actively attack forests by leading to local catastrophes. The possibility of overgrowing of meadowlands with forests is heavily determined by local moisture an insolation conditions that are determined by the relief”, - told Yuri Puzachenko, co-author of the research work.

Owing to MODIS multispectral band measuring devices, installed on Terra and Aqua climate satellites of NASA, the researchers managed to follow the self-regulation of the forest climate in Russia, also when and how the system becomes instable. Thus, the climate researchers were able of predicting the locations, where natural catastrophes will occur, and how the landscape of the European part of Russia will change.

Translated into English by Muhiddin Ganiev

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380015003026