Breath of global warming in Belarus

A record 48-degree heat wave in Sicily, an unprecedented drought in Chile, the first ever rain on the top of Greenland... Natural surprises are common in recent times and our country is no exception. The Republican Centre for Hydrometeorology, Control of Radioactive Contamination and Environmental Monitoring tells us more of how Belarus is experiencing the breath of global warming. 

It’s impossible for Belarus to stay away from the global climate processes. Every year makes its own contribution to the collection of weather changes. 2020, for example, became the warmest year for Belarus on record. Over the period of 1989-2020, winter became shorter by almost a week and the number of days with a stable snow cover reduced, while summer is now 3-7 days longer.

Actually, the country has been facing climate changes since the late 1980s and, in about 45 years, the average annual air temperature has risen by more than 2.8 degrees Celsius. Although Belarus occupies not a large territory, serious temperature differences are sometimes registered: i.e. it might be +14 degrees Celsius at night in the Grodno Region in late August and up to +33 degrees Celsius in the Gomel Region during the day. The secret is that the Republic is located in the very centre of Europe and each of its regions is influenced by the neighbouring territories. The weather is formed depending on which flow prevails.

Obviously, there have always been periods of warming and cooling – not necessarily due to people’s activity. Those were natural fluctuations which are now being amplified by anthropogenic impact. Anyway, a natural increase in temperatures is registered and it’s important for the energy sphere, agriculture, construction to adapt to new challenges.

Moreover, global warming produces abnormal phenomena. For example, the heat and fires in Turkey were suddenly replaced by torrential rains. In Belarus, there have also been cases of the kind: on June 25th, a wind of 33 metres per second was registered at the Surazh and Ula hydro posts. There are now also long periods of drought in Belarus. Starting from 2000, they sometimes begin in April and last for a month. The south of the country – the Brest and Gomel regions – suffers most.

A shortage of precipitation is also registered. As a result, now there is a danger for navigation on many Belarusian rivers. Though the situation is better than it was observed in 2015 – at the peak of droughts – but it's yet too early to talk about shipping.