Has anyone else noticed that the hottest spot on Earth is in northern Siberia? From the burning gas wells.?

Question

Hotter than the Saudi oil fields. Is it any coincidence that the north pole is melting?

Answer 1

I'm not sure if it is the hottest spot on earth, but it is one of the brightest points in the night sky, due to the LARGEST quantity of natural gas flaring on the planet being in this area!
Here is a temperature anomaly map that may illustrate what this question is about:
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/gcag/gcag1b.html

Congratulations! You have just demonstrated why American policies that prevent utilization of natural gas and oil resources in places such as ANWR in northern Alaska, or the Rocky Mountain areas of the western US, are in the long run more detrimental to the environment than if those resources were available to be used.

Why do I say this?
Because recent reports from the World Bank (May, 2007) have reported that Siberia is THE LARGEST source of natural gas flaring in the world, now surpassing Nigeria. This flaring is the result of oil production in areas where there is no use for the associated natural gas that is produced along with the oil. The Russians simply burn natural gas as waste. If this same problem existed within the United States, the flaring would not be allowed and the natural gas would either be sold or reinjected into the oil reservoir, as the natural gas currently being produced on the North Slope of Alaska is reinjected. This reinjection not only improves the ultimate recoverable oil from these fields, it saves the resource for the day when natural gas is needed in the market. Sadly, natural gas emits less carbon dioxide when used for power or heat than any other hydrocarbon resource, such as coal, and using natural gas to replace coal is one way we could quickly reduce our CO2 emissions, so wasting it in this way is especially egregious.

To see the World Bank report, confirming this huge waste of natural gas and its contribution to Arctic warming go here:
http://www.iea.org/Textbase/nptable/2006/russia_m2.pdf.
and
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/dmsp/interest/DMSP_flares_20070530_b.pdf


This is a worldwide problem that has had significant contributions caused by anti-oil environmental policies that drive oil production away from areas of high regulation to areas of no regulation such as Siberia. Currently there are about 150-170 Billion cubic meters of natural gas wasted by flaring each year. By my calculations that volume of natural gas will produce
305 BILLION kilograms of carbon dioxide per year!

Since that flared gas is simply waste material due to economic constraints, and competitive forces that allow the flaring to go on, if the same oil were produced from a part of the world where flaring is not allowed, it would actually reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by this amount. If that natural gas were used to replace burning of coal, it would reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by over TWICE that amount. If resources such as those produced from Siberia were not utilized until flaring was not necessary, or alternatives could be developed (such as reinjection, liquefaction, pipelines to Europe or China, etc.) we would all benefit from both reduced carbon dioxide input, and the extended amount of resources that would be available over time.

So the next time you complain about drilling in places like ANWR, consider that by denying access to this resource you are probably doing much more to destroy it than if you wanted to allow responsible production of oil and gas. This obstruction by regulation creates opportunities for companies such as the Russian oil companies that have almost no environmental responsibility. Keep in mind that almost no American oil companies operate in Siberia.

Here is how one Russian chief engineer describes Noyabrskneftegas's environmental protection efforts:
(I quote) "'Though it is still primitive, you won't see our level of environmental monitoring in any other area,' he said. [Noyabrskneftegas] tackles oil spills by ploughing the oil into the thin soils or by setting it on fire. And [Noyabrskneftegas] is increasingly making use of waste gas that is pumped up with the oil, rather than burning it all in wellhead flares."

This is not only primitive, by Western standards it would be illegal, but sadly our own environmental protection efforts actually contribute to this problem.
See:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13918900.300.html

Answer 2

I not only have not noticed this, I don't believe it's true. Can you supply some sort of reference to what you're talking about?

After reading Smartguy's response, I believe you must be looking at a map of temperature anomaly, or change. Greatest warming is expected in areas near the poles, so it would not be surprising that Siberia has experienced the most warming.

While Carbonates makes some interesting points, there is no way I think drilling for what might be in ANWR will have ANY effect on flaring elsewhere in the world. Even ANWR's proponents don't expect it to be hiding a supergiant oilfield, and it would only have a minor effect on the world's oil reserves.

Answer 3

Just checked the weather there.
In Irkutsk its 36 degrees and sunny
In Yakutsk its 19 degrees and snowing
In Anadyr its 16 degrees and cloudy
in Surgut its 25 degrees and partly cloudy
in Noril'sk its 25 degrees and snowing
in Omsk its 34 and sunny
in Novosibirsk its 28 and cloudy

None of these citys are hot, so i dont really know what your talking about, maybe its this map: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8c/Global_Warming_Map.jpg

this shows the average temp. change over the years not the average or current temp.

Answer 4

Very interesting. Do you have a link that points to a discussion of this?

If true it would be worth some research to see if it were because of geological activity, or climatological.

Answer 5

I just googled global temperature map. I saw what you mean. Yours is a VERY GOOD QUESTION! What the hell is going on up there???????????? Anyone from Russia on the forum tonight???

Answer 6

yeah, Im sure....
on the global temp. maps blue is cold ok red is hot got it