Yakutsk, Russia, is known to be the world’s coldest city due to its location in Russian Siberia. Yakutsk typically boasts freezing temperatures and a high risk of frostbite. However, the city is currently battling wildfires tearing through nearby forests. The wildlife has been experiencing a drought over the past several weeks, along with unprecedented heatwaves. The fires are massive and strong winds have pushed smoke as far away as Alaska. In Oregon, dense smoke has blanketed nearby cities as a bootleg wildfire slowly grows into a monstrous complex. The smoke has spread across roughly 3,000 miles, from one end of the USA to another. New York City witnessed the consequences of the Oregon fires on Wednesday when residents woke up to an intense red sunrise and a thick brown haze.
In both countries, firefighters are struggling to contain the blazes, fighting near-impossible battles to end the fires. Emergency response teams have tossed water bombs, used hoses, and fug firebreaks, to almost no avail. According to local media, the smoke in Yukutia, Russia, was so thick on Tuesday that it was impossible to fly planes due to low visibility. Over the past several years, wildfires have become larger and more intense as annual heat indexes rise. According to Environmentalist Thomas Smith, the fire season is consistently becoming longer, and fires are larger than ever before.
Read More: Wildfires have erupted across the globe, scorching places that rarely burned before