Unprecedented fires have been scorching huge swaths of eastern Russia in recent weeks, with Siberia’s Yakutia region hit hardest. While Russia has been experiencing an increasing severity of wildfires due to blistering summer temperatures and a historic drought, this year, all records are being broken. More than 300 fires are still active across what is supposed to be one of the coldest parts of the world.<\/p>\n\n
In recent days, experts have found that the Siberia forest blazes are bigger than all the other wildfires burning in the world<\/a> combined. As of August 16, the area covered by fires since the beginning of the year amounted to 17.08 million hectares \u2013 an area nearly twice the size of Portugal \u2013 and continues to grow. This massive size is a first in the recorded history of satellite observation.<\/p>\n\n