RUSSIA - World's Largest Freshwater Lake

"Wildfires in Russia scorch world’s largest freshwater lake" PBS NewsHour 10/3/2015

STEPHEN FEE (NewsHour):  On the shores of Lake Baikal, in Russian Siberia, unusually warm temperatures and dry conditions made for dangerous wildfire conditions this summer.

At least 1,500 square miles of forest burned until the flames died down in the past few weeks, leaving scorched earth and tree stumps where a once-lush forest stood.

Ecologists say the fires here could have a long-lasting impact on the delicate ecosystem around the lake, which is home to an estimated 20 percent of the world’s fresh, unfrozen water.

EKATERINA UDEREVSKAYA, ECOLOGIST RUSSIAN:  Since the forests are being destroyed, groundwater gets lost.  Drought starts, the springs that are still flowing dry out.  It lowers the level of Baikal, which was already lower than critical.

STEPHEN FEE:  The lake is one of the most bio-diverse regions in the world, home to 570 types of plants and more than 1,300 animal species, some of which are endangered.

Volunteers are now trying to plant one million new trees to restore the landscape.

IRINA VOLODCHENKO, VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR:  Any citizen, any resident can come to the nursery, collect a sapling and plant it in a plot of ground.  Anyone can join this action which allows you to express your concern about the common problem.

STEPHEN FEE:  Even a million new trees won’t replace all the greenery lost, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. but volunteers say it’s a start.

IGOR FILIMONOV, VOLUNTEER:  It’s just that we’re thinking of our future, of the future of our children for the kind of country we will live in and the air we will breathe.

HUNGARY - New 'Iron Curtain'

"Why Hungary is building a new ‘Iron Curtain’" PBS NewsHour 8/4/2015

Man's comment is an example of the consequences of NOT having religious freedom.

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In Hungary, government leaders say they can't cope with the flood of migrants entering their country:  80,000 so far this year.  So the government is racing to complete a 110 mile-long fence -- what opponents are calling a “new Iron Curtain” -- along its border with Serbia.  Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports.

MALCOLM BRABANT (NewsHour):  This family is more than 3,000 miles away from home in Congo.  After months on the road, they have just slipped across the frontier from Serbia and have been stopped by the Hungarian police.

The adults don’t want to be filmed, for fear of jeopardizing their chances of reaching France another thousand miles away.  In this porous border region, the country lane is teeming with migrants on a relentless march to Northern Europe.

You’re in Hungary.

MAN:  No, you are in Hungary.

MALCOLM BRABANT:  You are in Hungary.

Where have you come from?

MAN:  I’m from Serbia.  OK.  Enough.

MALCOLM BRABANT:  Nearby, a member of a right-wing vigilante group which claims to protect a local village stands guard over a group of Pakistanis who also just entered Hungary.  Some fled for economic reasons, others because of persecution.

MAN:  I wanted to marry some girl.  The Muslim religion, we don’t have permission for it, so they kill her.  So they don’t — they want to kill me, and now I’m running.  Even my family want to kill me, my relatives, everybody, because we cross a religion.  So, this is me running from there.

MALCOLM BRABANT:  The migrants fear a repeat of violence they say was inflicted by police in Bulgaria.

MAN:  They hit us here and here, here.  And they take all money, SIM cards, mobile. Everything, they take from us.

MALCOLM BRABANT:  But the vigilante lets them go.  The authorities estimate as many as 2,000 people are crossing illegally into Hungary every day.  Although most have no intention of remaining in the country, their sheer numbers intimidate some on isolated farms.

GLOBAL WARMING - Ground Giving Way in Frozen North

"Why in ‘remote, cold corners’ of the world, melting ground is giving way" PBS NewsHour 8/20/2014

Excerpt

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  Finally tonight, new indications that the planet is warming, especially in the frozen north.  Scientists have been tracking Arctic thawing for decades, and they have seen a dramatic increase since 2000.

When holes opened up in the earth recently in Siberia, a wave of speculation was set off as to their cause.  Scientists now think warming is the culprit.

To help us understand all this, we welcome back Tom Wagner.  He directs studies of the polar regions for NASA.

And it’s good to have you on the program again.

TOM WAGNER, NASA:  Thanks for having me back.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  So, just for those folks who don’t follow the polar region so closely on a regular basis, like you do, remind us, what is the Arctic made out of and how are you seeing it change?

TOM WAGNER:  Yes, so the top of the Arctic is an ocean covered by sea ice, but all around it are the lands of Russia and Alaska and things.  And that’s frozen ground, ground like in your backyard, but it’s frozen solid.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  And what have you been observing, you and other scientists, in terms of the change?

TOM WAGNER:  Well, in general, the Arctic has warming.

We know there’s been less sea ice.  We also know snow melts earlier and things like that.  But this recent story from Siberia took everybody by surprise, because literally holes the size of a football field just opened up in the ground.