A cyclone extends Eastern Siberia's freezing winter into its coldest in modern Russian history
In a new blow to the climate change lobby, Russia's top weatherman today announced that the winter now drawing to a close in Siberia may turn out to be the coldest on record.
'The winter of 2009-10 was one of the most severe in European part of Russia for more than 30 years, and in Siberia it was perhaps the record breaking coldest ever,' said Dr Alexander Frolov, head of state meteorological service Rosgidromet.
Statistics are still being analysed in detail, but it is known that in western Siberia the mean temperature was minus 23.2C, with more colder days than in previous years.
Some 63 days were colder than minus 25C and 39 days below minus 30C.
For this part of Siberia, this represents the coldest conditions in 40 years and the second harshest winter in 110 years.
Equivalent statistics for colder eastern Siberia have not been issued yet.
The coldest recorded temperature in the recent winter is believed to have been minus 57.4C degrees in Oymyakon on 20 January.
The remote town in eastern Siberia is the coldest inhabited community in the world.
'When we say that this winter in Siberia was record breaking, we are aware that temperatures on some days of other years may have gone lower, but in the most recent winter the substantial cold was staying longer than usual and over larger regions than usual,' said Dmitry Kiktev, deputy head of Rosgidromet.
Comment: Sea levels are not rising, not even in this low-lying region: This island's disappearance could indicate that the land is subsiding along the Indian-Asian Subduction line where the Indian plate meets the Eurasian one.