Smog Over Moscow Worsens as Fires Rage

(Aug 7) -- Dense smog choked Moscow today, grounding planes and forcing residents to don thick multi-layered masks as smoke from peat and forest fires hung over the Russian capital.

The heat and smoke have entered almost every aspect of life. Smoke has penetrated the city's subway system, and The State Historical Museum on the city's mammoth Red Square closed down because it couldn't' stop its smoke alarms from going off.

The cloud of smoke is so large it can even be seen from space.

A record heat wave has gripped Moscow and the surrounding regions for weeks, killing at least 52 people and burning up an area of land roughly three times the size of the nation of Luxembourg, Bloomberg News reported.

"All high-temperature records have been beaten, never has this country seen anything like this, and we simply have no experience of working in such conditions," Moscow emergency official Yury Besedin said on Friday, according to The Associated Press.

Carbon monoxide levels rose to more than six times the admissible level. Authorities advised locals to stay indoors, avoid open windows and to only venture outside with a mask on.

One source of concern for Russian authorities has been that the flames will reach its arsenal of nuclear weapons, still one of the largest in the world.

Troops dug a 5-mile long canal in a bid to protect the Sarov weapons facility, Reuters reported. The facility is surrounded by forest in the Niznhy Novgorod region, about 220 miles to the east of the capital.

All nuclear material has been removed from the facility as a precaution, Reuters reported.

The normally bustling city of 10.5 million people was far quieter than normal, as pollution levels jumped. Authorities advised locals that the best way to beat the pollution was to simply leave the city for the weekend.

Package tours were sold out and there were reports of a rush for seats on planes and trains leaving Moscow.

Dozens of flights out of the city were delayed in the last few days, as visibility at airports fell to below 350 meters (1148 feet), Bloomberg News reported.

Many businesses and public agencies simply canceled services. The country's soccer federation moved a planned game against Bulgaria to former capital St Petersburg, citing concerns for the health of the players.

The German embassy closed down, and the U.S. State Department urged travelers to seriously consider their plans, Agence-France Presse said.

"It's just impossible to work," Moscow resident Mikhail Borodin told Bloomberg News. "I don't know what the government is doing, they should just cancel office hours."

The health threats of the smog could be severe. Besides the carbon monoxide, high levels of fine particles in the air could pose a major threat to people with asthma and cardiac conditions, causing lung problems and even heart attacks.

"For people with underlying health problems, the particles in the smog could be the straw that breaks the camel's back," Ken Donaldson, a professor of respiratory toxicology at the University of Edinburgh told Bloomberg News.

Over 500 fires are blazing, mostly in Western Russia. Fifty-two people have died, according to the health ministry, and 2,000 homes have been destroyed. Troops have been called out to aid the 10,000 firefighters already at work.

The economic impact of the fires may be felt across the world. The government has been forced to declare a state of emergency in over 20 agricultural regions. Earlier in the week, authorities announced a ban on the export of flour and grains, starting Aug. 15 and lasting through the end of the year.

Concerns over the impact on world wheat supplies have helped drive the price of the grain up by about 90 per cent since June, with some fearing that Ukraine and Kazakhstan will follow Russia's example and limit exports.

This could hit food prices across the world, just as prices spiked in 2008 on a jump in commodity prices.

Chris Hurt, a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University, told National Public Radio that the rising prices would hit consumers in parts of the developing world.

"When a basic food item like wheat goes up dramatically in price, it really affects their ability to pay," Hurt said. "The pure will-it-be-available question is another one that really makes people very worried."