Russia-Kazakhstan floods: Is climate change warming the Ural Mountains and western Siberia?

Russia-Kazakhstan floods: Is climate change warming the Ural Mountains and western Siberia?

Subject: Geography

Section: Mapping

Context:

• The recent catastrophic flooding along the continental borders of Asia and Europe in the Ural mountains has sparked widespread concern and debate over whether it is a consequence of climate change.

details:

• Evidence indicates that both the Ural region, which spans from the Arctic Ocean to the Caspian Sea, and Kazakhstan are experiencing significant warming.
• Research, including a 2020 study from the Ural Federal Agrarian Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, confirms that global warming has notably impacted the climate of the Ural region, with recorded increases in air temperature across various cities and changes in precipitation patterns.
• The study found that the most pronounced warming occurred in winter, while spring saw the least warming. There was also an observed increase in annual precipitation in several locations.
• Furthermore, a study by Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth observation program, highlighted an acceleration in the rate of warming towards the end of the 20th century.
• Kazakhstan, a country with a history of environmental challenges, has seen a 1.37°C increase in air temperature over the last century, with predictions of a further 4°C rise by 2050, exacerbating desertification risks.
• The flooding in the Urals and western Siberia, described as the worst in 70 years, has led to the evacuation of over 100,000 people due to the overflowing of the Ural, Tobol, and Irtysh rivers.

Ural river:

• The Ural is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan on the continental border between Europe and Asia. 
• It originates in the southern Ural Mountains and discharges into the Caspian Sea.
• At 2,428 kilometres (1,509 mi), it is the third-longest river in Europe after the Volga and the Danube, and the 18th-longest river in Asia.
• The Ural rises near Mount Kruglaya in the Ural Mountains, flows south parallel and west of the north-flowing Tobol, through Magnitogorsk, and around the southern end of the Urals, through Orsk where it turns west for about 300 kilometres (190 mi), to Orenburg, where the river Sakmara joins.
• From Orenburg it continues west, passing into Kazakhstan, then turning south again at Oral, and meandering through a broad flat plain until it reaches the Caspian a few miles below Atyrau, where it forms a fine ‘digitate’ (tree-like) delta.

Tobol river:

• The Tobol is a river in Western Siberia (in Kazakhstan and Russia) and the main (left) tributary of the Irtysh.
• Its length is 1,591 km (989 mi), and the area of its drainage basin is 426,000 km2 (164,000 sq mi).

Irtysh river:

• The Irtysh is a river in Russia, China, and Kazakhstan. It is the chief tributary of the Ob and is also the longest tributary river in the world.
• The river’s source lies in the Mongolian Altai in Dzungaria (the northern part of Xinjiang, China) close to the border with Mongolia.
• The Irtysh’s main tributaries include the Tobol, Demyanka and the Ishim.
• The Ob-Irtysh system forms a major drainage basin in Asia, encompassing most of Western Siberia and the Altai Mountains.

About Ural mountains:

• The Ural Mountains are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north-south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.
• The mountain range forms part of the conventional boundary between the continents of Europe and Asia.
• Vaygach Island and the islands of Novaya Zemlya form a further continuation of the chain to the north into the Arctic Ocean.
• The average altitudes of the Urals are around 1,000–1,300 metres (3,300–4,300 ft), the highest point being Mount Narodnaya.
• The mountains lie within the Ural geographical region and significantly overlap with the Ural Federal District and the Ural economic region.
• Their resources include metal ores, coal, and precious and semi-precious stones.
• Since the 18th century, the mountains have contributed significantly to the mineral sector of the Russian economy. The region is one of the largest centres of metallurgy and heavy industry production in Russia.
  • Eastern regions are rich in chalcopyrite, nickel oxide, gold, platinum, chromite and magnetite ores, as well as in coal (Chelyabinsk Oblast), bauxite, talc, fireclay and abrasives.
  • The Western Urals contain deposits of coal, oil, natural gas (Ishimbay and Krasnokamsk areas) and potassium salts.
  • Both slopes are rich in bituminous coal and lignite, and the largest deposit of bituminous coal is in the north (Pechora field).

• The Urals are among the world’s oldest extant mountain ranges.

Source: DTE