A video of a “burning pillar” bursting out from under the ice of Lake Baikal was published on January 31 in social network Irkutsk journalist Boris Slepnev. Within a week, it received more than 36 thousand views, hundreds of reposts and likes. Headlines like “Russian set Lake Baikal on fire” and “Rare video stunned onlookers” began to circulate online. There were also those who suggested that it was a fake.
“It’s a well-known fact, but I personally haven’t seen any photos or videos before. Well, I had a chance to see it with my own eyes. Large formations, if you believe scientific articles, are formed in the deltaic part of the Selenga. In the old days, residents of Baikal villages attached mystical meaning to night flashes. Of course, you’re sitting on the shore, and then there’s a blaze, and even from under the water. You’ll believe anything,” Slepnev comments on his own video.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. So many years on Baikal. And I didn’t even know that this could happen. I know about gas hydrates, I know about gas and oil coming to the surface, but for a torch to burn... it’s amazing,” writes Ekaterina Vyrupaeva, editor of the Teleinform news agency, in the comments to the video.
Head of the Laboratory of Hydrology and Hydrophysics, Limnological Institute SB RAS, Ph.D. geographical sciences Nikolai Granin told the IrCity portal about when the first “burning pillars” were recorded on the lake, where they formed and how much methane accumulated in the water of the great lake.
Travelers John Georgi and Peter Palace were the first to talk about the release of gas in Baikal; they visited the lake back in 1771-1773. Almost a century later - in 1868 - Siberian branch Imperial Geographical Society organized a special expedition to study the phenomenon. Scientists talked with local residents and studied gases emitted in the area of the village of Listvenichnoye (now the village of Listvyanka - ed.) and Olkhon Islands.
But locals, even without scientists, knew at the beginning of the 20th century: when the ice on Lake Baikal is still very thin, large gas bubbles accumulate at the sites of future steam baths. If the ice in such places is broken through with a blow from an pick and a lighted match is applied, a bright flame will burst out of the hole.
According to data for 2003, total stock methane in Baikal was 820 tons. There is an assumption that the construction of the Irkutsk hydroelectric power station and the low tectonic activity in the lake area significantly affected the gas concentration in the water: due to the rise in the lake level from 1956-2000, there was almost no methane release.
This is also indirectly evidenced by the fact that scientists have stopped recording cases mass death Golomyanka fish - previously it died, presumably due to strong gas emissions in the deep-water part of the lake.
Currently, Granin notes, the intensity of methane release is increasing from year to year. And, by the way, there is an assumption that the mass disease and death of Baikal sponges may be a consequence of an increase in gas concentration.
The gas bubble on Lake Baikal can be found by the kolobovnik - frozen balls on the surface of the ice. But it should be remembered that these balls also indicate possible danger– the ice in this place is thin.
IrkutskMedia
The most current problem V Irkutsk region- large-scale forest fires. What, in your opinion, are the reasons for this situation?
Now all possible forces are already working, but, unfortunately, they were sent more than a month late. This is a shame, because taking control of the development of this catastrophe early stage it was possible. Everyone saw how many fires there were: the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Rosleskhoz, and the authorities. The fact that the emergency situation was introduced late, the fact that assistance from the Federal Forest Protection Reserve was requested with a huge delay, the fact that the data in official reports was distorted dozens of times, became the reason for the current scale of the disaster.
Now they have already begun to recognize the scale, to provide correct data about what is burning and how badly it is burning. But at this stage, even all the forces will not be enough to turn the situation around. The only way out is to contain fires in the most dangerous directions, not to let them settlements. You just had to not be afraid to ask for help, because thunderstorm activity and extreme weather happen. It’s not the authorities’ fault that the weather is like this and there are a lot of “wild” tourists.
This is not the fault of any particular official, except perhaps a general flaw in the prevention system. Specific wine specific people only that they tried to imitate well-being when they should have asked for help. Now we just have to wait until the autumn rains.
This situation is absolutely typical for Russia as a whole, when local people are afraid to admit the problem, and the federal authorities pretend to believe the regions. Responsibility is shared absolutely equally here. Both Rosleskhoz and the Ministry of Emergency Situations have excellent systems space monitoring and corresponding powers.
On the background forest fires in the Irkutsk region and neighboring Buryatia, the situation with peat fires attracts somewhat less attention. How serious do you assess this problem?
When the coast of Lake Baikal burns, it is a catastrophe of a national, if not planetary, scale. This lake is a treasure for all people. Against this backdrop, the problems of peat fires are local in nature, but they cannot be underestimated. For example, smoke from peat fires is one of the most toxic.
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You have extensive experience working with volunteers and organizing their work. What problems are encountered when organizing the work of volunteers? What advice could you give in the case of Irkutsk?
On the one hand, of course it’s good if people are more active, because it a common problem. On the other hand, it is very important that there is no “window dressing”; a forced increase in the number of volunteers will not bring any benefit.
We already have too much imitation of volunteerism, especially after 2010, when, after the adoption of the law on voluntary fire brigade, on paper we have a voluntary fire brigade in every village, but in reality, these people, as a rule, do not exist. There shouldn’t be such “window dressing”, because in the end it pushes people away from the idea of volunteering and destroys trust between those who are trying to build this process, be it social activists or the initiative of the authorities.
The first and main condition for the work of volunteers is that it is not “window dressing”, but a real desire to help.
Considering the traditional fire problems of the Baikal region, what needs to be done to develop effective volunteering here?
We need to systematically and plannedly prepare for this, because the influx of volunteers due to some kind of disaster quickly subsides after the severity of the problem passes. But with the next disaster, the entire organization starts from scratch. Good way out- this is the development of a systematically planned volunteer movement, where people can receive quality training.
Journalists from the Kopeyki newspaper who visited the Istominsky litter in the Kabansky district of Buryatia, where industrial fishing was taking place, witnessed the emergence of a flame from under the ice of Lake Baikal. As the newspaper reported on February 1, 2017, a local fisherman showed a place where big bubble Methane gas that came to the surface accumulated under the ice. This is what explains the mysterious night fire flashes that tourists see on Lake Baikal.
At the request of journalists, the fisherman pierced the ice with the steel tip of an pick. There were sounds that vaguely resembled the whistle and noise of a waterfall, the groan of a deflating tire, as if a sharpened tool had pierced not ice, but a gas pipe. The next moment, a torch appeared, the height of which exceeded a meter. The phenomenon was captured on video by Boris Slepnev. The fire raged for about a minute, then the height of the escaping flames began to decrease. After a couple of minutes, only a small hole remained in place of the natural burner.
Most often, inexplicable flashes over the water surface were seen by residents of villages located in the deltaic part of the Selenga, the newspaper writes. For centuries unexplained phenomena Baikal had a mystical touch. How to explain a column of flame that suddenly appears among the endless water surface? It is no coincidence that one of the variants of the name of the lake is considered to be a translation from Buryat language: bai gal - standing fire.
One of the first natural phenomenon explained the member St. Petersburg Academy Sciences I. Gmelin, who discovered the presence of hydrocarbons in the lake in 1833. Subsequently, it turned out that the range of flammable substances is not limited to gases - the thickness of Baikal hides oil, gas hydrates, bitumen, and so on. IN summer time flammable gases appear in the form of floating bubbles; in winter, these are voids frozen in ice.
It is precisely this gas, which undermines the ice and makes movement around winter Baikal dangerous. Gas accumulations are concentrated mainly in the deltas of the rivers flowing into the lake - Selenga, Barguzin, Upper Angara, Buguldeika and so on. In the old days, the most dangerous area was considered to be the water area between Goloustny and Posolsky (the Selenga delta). On the short road to winter time merchant convoys were moving, some of them mysteriously went under the ice, which certain places unexpectedly turned out to be critically subtle.
Myths and legends about evil Baikal spirits in Once again in 1931, specialists from the Baikalnefterazvedka trust destroyed it, identifying gas-bearing areas on the east coast, and the most powerful one near Posolsky. In January 1951, the Council of Ministers of the USSR even adopted Resolution No. 134 - “On strengthening geological exploration work for oil and gas in the area of Lake Baikal.” Subsequently, the Ust-Selenginsk depression was considered a promising place for industrial oil and gas production. In the end, fortunately, reason prevailed. Environmental scientists convinced the public that mining would cause irreparable damage to Baikal.
Writes Svetlana Burdinskaya , Chief Editor News agency “Baikal-info”:
Federal media have given a very mixed interpretation to the video, which shows how a gas bubble that has accumulated on the surface of the ice of Lake Baikal is set on fire. The video was shot by Boris Slepnev, editor-in-chief of the Kopeika newspaper (Irkutsk region), at Istominsky Sora in Buryatia; it was posted on the website of the Baikal Info news agency and on the author’s Facebook page. The video instantly went viral on the Internet, but many federal colleagues of Irkutsk journalists began to fantasize despite common sense and the headlines reached the point of absurdity.
The video clearly shows how local pierces an air bubble on the surface of the ice of Baikal with an iron lance, then brings a match, carefully removes the lance, and the escaped methane ignites in the air above the ice with a torch about a meter high. But this is how this phenomenon, which has been known to scientists since the 19th century, was interpreted not by the Irkutsk media. The headlines are amazing: “A column of fire burst out from under the ice of Baikal” (South Federal portal), “A Russian set Lake Baikal on fire” (Znaj.ua), “Fire bursting out from under the ice of Baikal was filmed” (PolitExpert), “ Columns of underwater fire were filmed on Lake Baikal" (" Russian newspaper"), "A powerful under-ice fire on Lake Baikal was caught on video" (EG.RU), "A rare video of the bitter water of Baikal stunned those watching" (Piter.tv), "A huge under-ice fire on Lake Baikal was caught on video" (" Actual news"), "Residents of Irkutsk filmed a fire under the ice on Lake Baika" (REN TV).
For some reason, journalists from these and a number of other media outlets, despite basic knowledge in physics and chemistry, received by each high school, they decided that there might be a fire under the ice on Lake Baikal and that the water might be burning. Obviously, the pursuit of a big headline has eclipsed this knowledge.
In southern Siberia, forests have been regularly devastated by fires for ten years, similar phenomenon further aggravated by the dry spell. Despite the efforts of volunteers, this is an environmental, economic and sanitary disaster, writes French Liberation special correspondent Leo Vidal-Giraud.
"We are in nature reserve Lake Baikal, in the Republic of Buryatia, is a subject Russian Federation, located in the center of Siberia, writes the special correspondent. - In 2015, a forest fire of unprecedented severity destroyed 43 thousand hectares of the 75 thousand hectares of the reserve included in the list world heritage UNESCO. The thermometer shows minus 33 degrees Celsius. Nothing unusual for sixty-year-old Gennady Timofeevich, who is driving his SUV along a bumpy road. He and his fellow lumberjacks spend the whole day outdoors sometimes in severe frosts."
"We've lost the whole forest," he says, pointing to the blackened trunks. "You can chop and saw, but the wood is no longer worth anything. Only the Chinese will buy it." In 2015, a “mountain fire” occurred, which burns not only the soil, but also the crown of trees. The forest will never recover, reports special correspondent. "Everything you see has perished, completely and completely. Are the trees still standing? They too will fall. The roots are ruined." Gennady stops the car at the top of the hill. “Look, this is all a dead forest. From here to Lake Baikal everything burned down!”
"Shivering from the cold in the snowy taiga, it's hard to believe, but here it's also happening global warming. Over the last decade in Siberia average temperature rose by 2.5 degrees. The reason for this is human activity, especially the development of hydrocarbons, on which the Russian economy is heavily dependent. In addition, the country still has not joined the Paris Agreement of December 2015,” notes Vidal-Giraud.
However, warming has nothing to do with the number of fires, which are 90% due to human negligence. However, it makes them more dangerous, explains Anton Beneslavsky, head international project on combating natural fires Greenpeace Russia.
"Global warming is making meteorological conditions more extreme. In Buryatia, it is causing drought, more strong wind, decreasing water levels in lakes and rivers. This creates favorable conditions for more intense and faster fires, and drier vegetation is more susceptible to fire,” he says.
“The consequences of fires for public health are no less terrible. Not many people die due to forest fires directly in this sparsely populated area, but the flue gases they emit contain carcinogenic substances,” the article says.
“There’s nothing to breathe here,” exclaims 69-year-old Pavel Ilyich, who has lived all his life in the village of Zakaltus. The authorities have no information official statistics about the number of deaths due to toxic gases released during forest fires. “Go look at the village cemetery,” Pavel Ilyich is indignant. “Here are your statistics! Ten people died from lung cancer in ten years, for a population of five hundred people!”
Forest fires also threaten the way of life of indigenous people. The head of the organization of volunteer firefighters, Solbon Sanzhiev, strives to preserve the Buryat culture. In his opinion, both struggles go hand in hand: “In some areas, people live off traditional hunting and collecting wild vegetation. Due to forest fires, their source of income and food completely disappears. To provide for the needs of their family, they are forced to illegally cut down forests , or go to the city. But our Buryat culture is based on our traditional way of life, on gathering and hunting. When these people move to the city, this culture is lost."
“The catastrophic fires of 2015 came as a shock to Solbon. Looking at the scale of the destruction caused, while Lake Baikal and its surroundings are considered sacred places for the Buryats, he created volunteer corps"Baikal". Local authorities were skeptical at first, but eventually agreed to work in full harmony with civil organizations,” the special correspondent notes.
"Buryatia is very positive example, says Anton Beneslavsky. “The government there is loyal to associations and volunteers.”
However, despite the Buryat achievements in the fight against forest fires, general situation does not make Anton Beneslavsky optimistic: “The conditions in which we fight against fires are only getting worse as climate change accelerates. We are like people trying to climb a downward escalator: it is necessary to actively hustle just to stay in place, and do where more effort in order to climb up."
The situation with forest fires in Siberia remains extremely tense: more than 100 fires have been recorded with total area almost 150 thousand hectares. A state of emergency has been declared in six regions. In the Irkutsk region, smoke from fires covered Baikal, from where tourists had to be urgently evacuated. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called the work of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Rosleskhoz and local authorities “ineffective”, sending the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Vladimir Puchkov, to deal with the burning forests. Mr. Puchkov, in turn, criticized Irkutsk officials for shifting responsibility onto each other and ordered to eliminate all active fires within three days.
Yesterday, the area of forest fires in Siberia increased in one day from 142 thousand to 149 thousand hectares. This is 38% more than at the same time last year. In total, according to the latest data, more than 100 fires have been recorded, of which 58 are fires in Buryatia, 25 in the Irkutsk region. A state of emergency has been introduced in six regions of the Siberian region federal district: in the Trans-Baikal Territory, Irkutsk Region, the Republic of Tyva, Buryatia and Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Territory. The most a difficult situation is taking shape in the area of Lake Baikal, where large fires are active on both the Irkutsk and Buryat sides. Almost the entire lake area is covered in smoke, and ash floats on the surface of the water. In the region, the issuance of permits to visit the Baikal-Lena Nature Reserve and the Pribaikalsky Nature Reserve has been suspended national park. Earlier this week, 77 tourists were evacuated from the shores of the lake due to the threat to life.
The day before, the situation with the fires caused dissatisfaction on the part of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. According to him, the Ministry of Emergency Situations has already deployed 7.5 thousand employees and 2 thousand pieces of equipment to Siberia to protect the population from fires. “Why couldn’t this have been done earlier, while the scope natural disaster Hasn't reached such proportions yet? - said Mr. Medvedev. - In general, why is this happening? The work to prevent forest fires through Rosleskhoz, regional authorities, local authorities, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations is still very far from effective. It is necessary to determine what works and what does not work, and who needs to be encouraged.”
Yesterday, on behalf of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Vladimir Puchkov, arrived in Irkutsk, where he chaired a meeting of the commission on emergency situations. Representatives of the regional forestry agency said that 70% of fires were caused by human fault, representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources shifted responsibility to dry thunderstorms. Mr. Puchkov criticized officials for shifting responsibility onto each other. “How did you bring the protected forests to this state? You were obliged to ensure the protection of nature reserves from fire, accurate forecast there was no weather,” he said. “All active fires must be brought under strict control and extinguished within three days.”
Three Be-200, three An-2, and one R-2006 aircraft are currently involved in extinguishing fires in the Irkutsk region. The military has already joined in extinguishing the forest fires: the Ministry of Defense sent two Il-76 and two Mi-8 helicopters to Irkutsk. Some aircraft have already been transferred to Buryatia. Vladimir Puchkov held a meeting yesterday in Ulan-Ude. He made no complaints about the work of the officials, but ordered the transfer of EMERCOM groups from Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk to extinguish fires in Buryatia, as well as the use of heavy aircraft (Be-200) there. “The forecast is unfavorable,” said the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. “Warm, dry weather will continue in the next seven to ten days, which may complicate fire suppression efforts and will contribute to the emergence of new outbreaks. I hope there will be no new fires. We are switching to a 24-hour firefighting regime.” The unfavorable forecast is also confirmed by Rosleskhoz: in the coming days in Siberia the high level fire hazard.
Ekaterina Eremenko, Irkutsk; Ivan Buranov