Russia does not normally spring to . mind as being in the forefront of the fight against climate change. The citizens of Moscow, however, need no explanation of one aspect of the problem-the importance of wetlands. Earlier this year they had an abrupt and lethal lesson on the dangers of peat-bog fires. An unusually hot summer set such fires across the country and the peatlands around Moscow generated a smog that blanketed the city with carbon monoxide and soot. By August 9th the daily death rate had climbed to 700, twice the normal level for that time of the year.
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