Environment: Dying From The Cold

Credit
Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Raw Story reports that Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry has issued an extreme weather warning for Siberia, where temperatures are expected to drop to -55C (-67F) this week. The extreme cold is expected to last for approximately a week (till January 21). Normally, temperatures range between -15C to -39C in the Siberian winter, so this is an unusually cold cold snap.

Our sympathies to the Siberian people. We at Casa de Los Gatos, like all gatos, prefer warmth to cold. Our Russian Blue, Gojira Helen Wheels, who would rather sleep under a mountain of blankets than brave the cold, gives grateful thanks that she is not in Siberia this winter.

It is no joking matter, though. Two people have already died and more than 30 have been hospitalized with frostbite in Irkutsk, central Siberia. The bitter cold is overloading power grids so that power is down in some areas. Schools have been closed, and the ministry has warned that the extreme cold could destroy buildings in addition to stalling traffic and killing or injuring people.

Stumble It!