Record-breaking heatwave hit Siberia

The Siberian heatwave

has hit northern Russia

with record-breaking temperatures

(SOUNDBITE) (Russian) DEPUTY HEAD OF YAKUTSK HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL SERVICE, TATYANA MARSHALIK, SAYING:

"On June 20, 2020, a temperature of 38°C (100 °F) was registered at Verkhoyansk station. This is now an absolute record because the last temperature recorded at a similar heat was 37.3°C in 1988."

The heat has aggravated wildfires

// in remote forest,

on tundra,

and peatlands//

(SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RESIDENT OF KEMEROVO, SVETLANA KARMANOVA, SAYING:

"I had an idea that Yakutia is a cold wintery place, and I did not think that it would be so hot here."

The Arctic sea ice has shrunk

by 70% of its summer volume

since the 1970s