A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall

These days, unfortunately, we all need to become familiar with the terminology for extreme weather and climate change, if only to know when we should dash into the basement or pack up and run.

So how bad is it in Russia? Pretty darn bad: Изменение климата в России происходит быстрее, чем в среднем по миру (Climate change in Russia is happening faster than the world average). Климатический кризис уже здесь (The climate crisis is already here).

Like elsewhere in the world, there are general changes like колебания климата (climatic fluctuations) and потопление (warming). В последнее время природные катаклизмы участились (In recent years natural catastrophes have become more frequent). These include разрушительные ураганы, оползни, ледяные и проливные дожди, жара, засуха, наводнения, лесные пожары (destructive tornadoes, landslides, ice and driving rain, heat waves, drought, flooding and forest fires), plus some frightening changes that are specific to Russia and other northern countries: таяние вечной мерзлоты, уменьшение площади и толщины морского льда, таяние ледяного щита (melting of permafrost, shrinking of the area and thickness of sea ice, melting of the ice sheet).