Siberian Sunshine

Concern has been expressed about the record temperatures in Western Siberia, most more than 10 degrees Celsius above their normal level for this time of the year (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/17/climate-crisis-alarm-at-record-breaking-heatwave-in-siberia). The Earth is not heating up evenly but heatwaves in Siberia are especially problematic.  They have been linked to a major oil spill (probably caused by the collapse of ageing pipe-work as the permafrost support underpinning it disappears), forest fires (carbon dioxide releasing) and swarms of moths whose caterpillars decimate the leaves of trees (so, not much photosynthesis to remove CO2 there). Thawing in this region is also likely to liberate masses of methane which is a very potent 'greenhouse gas', making further warming of the planet even more likely.