Russia forest fires: New report shows damage worst since records began

Russia has seen a record amount of forest fire damage this year, according to a new report from the environmental charity Greenpeace.

The country first began accurately monitoring the amount of land destroyed by forest fires back in 2001.

So far this year, blazes have destroyed 18.13 million hectares of Russian forests, setting a new record. The previous record of 18.1 million hectares, which covered the amount of forestry lost throughout the entire year, was recorded in 2012.

The 2012 record was exceeded last week after a long fire season. The affected areas destroyed by the fires are equal to the size of the US state of Oklahoma.

It's not only the forests in Russia that have been affected by fires. Areas covered by grass, reeds and tundra - which are large flat areas of treeless land found in colder climates - have also experienced blazes.

Last year, all the fires recorded and mapped in Russia covered a total area of ​​27.75 million hectares, and 64% of them were in forests.

It's been predicted that fires will affect areas totalling about 30 million hectares by the end of this year, which is an area roughly the size of ​​Italy or Poland.

Global climate change is said to be responsible for the increase in forest fires in Russia in recent years according to scientists.

"For the past several years, when the area of the fires has surpassed 15m hectares, it has become, in all likelihood, the new normal in the conditions of the new climate reality," Greenpeace Russia said.

The burning forests in Russia have also contributed to some of the worst global emissions in recent months.

The EU's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, which provides information on important environmental issues, found that burning forests released 1.3 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide in July, the highest since it began measurements in 2003.

The taiga forests of Siberia released 970 megatonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere between June and August - more than all the forests in the rest of the world put together.

The majority of emissions came from America and Siberia, which is a region in Russia.