of high or very high levels of air pollution (Yablokov
2010). Another contributing factor is that increased
economic prosperity has brought a big increase in the
number of cars, which is a major source of air pollu-
tion in urban areas.
Climate change is a deepening environmental se-
curity challenge. Much of resource rich Siberia lies in a
permafrost area, which is dramatically affected by the
melting that has already occurred. Changes bode sig-
nificant problems for the Siberian infrastructure. Gos-
standart, the government agency overseeing building
standards and codes, states that foundations must ei-
ther have consistently frozen or melted soil. Processes
of freezing and thawing not only create settling dur-
ing thaw cycles, but will eventually cause building
failure. Another infrastructure concern is to stabilize
transportation routes so that they do not require con-
stant maintenance as the permafrost melts. Pipelines
could also become unstable as the soil around them
melts. Aside from infrastructure damage/failure,
thawing will release stored methane, which will exac-
erbate warming. Further warming in the Arctic region
corresponds with more frequent storms in the Arctic
Ocean, which are predicted to lead to coastal erosion
and adjustments by people living in those regions.
Other concerns are that as moist soil thaws and melts
away, it could cause desertification. This would be
disastrous for the forests in the Siberian taiga (Angel
2007).
Forested lands face two major threats, fire and
uncontrolled cutting. Data show an increase in forest
fires. According to a 2007 study, seven of the previous
nine years had been extreme fire years in Siberia, and
the area burned was 29% greater in the 1990s than it
had been in the 1980s (Henry and Douhovnikoff 2008,
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