PETROZAVODSK, 29 July (BelTA) - The average temperature in Belarus has increased by 1.8 degrees since 2000, and the temperature in winter has risen, according to some estimates, by 4 degrees, Sergei Lysenko, the director of the Institute of Nature Management at the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, said as he attended a roundtable “Environmental security of the Union State” hosted by the Karelian Research Center of the Russian Academy of Science. Belarusian scientists took part in the event with a video link, BelTA has learned.
Before the current warming period started, there were three climatic zones in Belarus, Sergei Lysenko said. "Now the northern climate zone is gone completely, the central one has broken up into several parts, and the former southern climate zone covers most of Belarus now. There are two new climatic zones which were not previously observed in Belarus. If this trend continues, in a few decades the climate in Belarus will be similar to the steppe zone of Ukraine in the last century,” the expert said.
According to Sergei Lysenko, all the climatic changes taking place in Belarus have a negative impact on the productivity of agricultural land. This is especially evident in Gomel Oblast. Sergei Lysenko attribute higher yields in the country to the use of new, more advanced agricultural technologies. Similar climatic changes are happening in most other countries of Eastern Europe.
According to Sergei Lysenko, if the current trends continue, in the next 20-30 years Belarus will see a further increase in winter temperatures and fewer precipitation in the winter period. As for the summer period, the growth of average temperatures will slow down in the next 20 years, and the amount of precipitation will increase slightly.
The roundtable with the participation of Belarusian and Karelian scientists was held within the framework of the press tour of “Scientific cooperation and strengthening of cultural ties between Belarus and Russia's Karelia” organized by the Standing Committee of the Union State.
