What’s up with arctic weather? Moscow wants to know

The network of weather stations has deteriorated over many years and a complete upgrade is now absolutely necessary, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev said at a recent meeting at the Presidium of the Russian Arctic Commission. .

The main motivation for the initiative is to provide safer navigation along the Northern Sea Route.

“In arctic conditions, having an effective weather monitoring system is synonymous with safety. Without such a system, we cannot develop maritime transport on the Northern Sea Route, and furthermore – this would entail additional risks for the inhabitants of the region ”, he stressed.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the state of the Russian meteorological network in the Arctic has deteriorated to “the level of the 1950s”.

The new project includes a complete modernization of 26 Arctic monitoring points of the Roshydromet meteorological service, as well as a partial modernization of 97 other points.

The eastern Arctic coast will be the main priority.

“This region is the most important in terms of the development of year-round navigation prospects on the Northern Sea Route in the eastern direction,” Trutnev said at the Commission meeting.

PUBLICITY

The upgrades are to be completed by 2024, the Far East and Arctic Ministry advises.

Roshydromet will also receive federal funding for the modernization of its Sever information system on the Arctic sea ice. This modernization includes integration with the systems operated by Rosatom and its Northern Sea Route Directorate.

The federal authority directs key elements of Russian research on the evolution of weather and climate in the Arctic.

It actively participates in major ongoing investments in the Russian Arctic, including the development of the Northern Sea Route.

Maritime transport through the Russian Arctic has increased explosively in recent years and in 2020 exceeded 32 million tonnes of cargo. This figure should rise to 80 million tonnes by 2024 and 130 million tonnes by 2035, Yuri Trutnev reiterated to the member of the Arctic Commission.