Massive flooding has forced hundreds of residents to evacuate the world's coldest inhabited settlements, The Moscow Times reported, via MSN.

What's happening?

Heavy rainfall led multiple rivers to overflow their banks in the republic of Sakha in northeast Russia, impacting roughly 700 people, including 163 children, Russian officials said, per The Moscow Times. No deaths or injuries had been reported.

Sakha, also known as Yakutia, is Russia's largest and coldest region. 

"Despite the installation of protective structures, a dam broke and flooded the village of Betenkes almost entirely," the regional government announced via Telegram, The Moscow Times reported.  

In at least one location, waters reached as high as 33 feet, damaging 100 structures, including 36 homes. In the process, an estimated 100 plots of land were flooded, according to The Moscow Times.   

"The main priorities are to minimize damage in the settlements and prevent threats to people's lives and health," said Aisen Nikolaev, the regional head of Sakha, at an emergency meeting, per The Moscow Times. 

As aid workers rushed a reported eight tons of food and other emergency supplies to the region, emergency responders onsite rescued residents, livestock, and even a pet hamster from floodwaters, according to The Star. 

A vast region covered by swamps and forestland, Sakha has been hit by both flooding and wildfires in recent years.

What do floods in Russia mean for the rest of the world?

While recent floods in Far East Russia, Central Texas, and New York City might have taken place thousands of miles apart, they all were made more likely by rising global temperatures. 

For decades, scientists have warned that rising temperatures would cause severe weather events to increase in magnitude. Those projections now have become reality in the form of deadly heat waves, fatal floods, and out-of-control wildfires.

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While it cannot be scientifically proven that any single severe weather event was the result of human causes, hotter temperatures increase the likelihood of flash floods because warmer air absorbs more moisture.

According to Climate Central, for every one degree Fahrenheit increase, air can hold 4% more water. When these larger concentrations of moisture fall back to the earth as precipitation, the result is more intense storms, delivering more rainfall per hour.

Because flood mitigation systems, both natural and human-made, can only divert so much water at a time, flash floods are more likely to occur. 

These floods cost lives, destroy crops, and damage property, costing billions of dollars. These impacts reverberate far beyond the flood zones in the form of higher food prices and insurance premiums. 

What is being done about rising temperatures?

In order to reverse the trend on rising global temperatures, it is necessary to drastically reduce the amount of heat-trapping pollution entering the atmosphere. 

According to the UN, the burning of nonrenewable fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas accounts for 75% of all planet-warming pollution. This makes the transition to cleaner, renewable sources of energy necessary in order to avert the worst impacts of rising global temperatures.   

In the U.S., the transportation sector accounts for 29% of heat-trapping pollution, according to the EPA. This means that finding cleaner modes of transportation can make a big difference. 

Walking, riding a bicycle, taking public transportation, or driving an EV are all great ways to improve local air quality while also reducing planet-warming pollution.

To take the environmental benefits of driving an EV even further, you can install solar panels on your home. Charging your EV off home solar is cheaper than off the grid or on public chargers, plus you know you are always charging your EV with cleaner, renewable energy. 

To make your home even more resilient to power outages from severe weather events or other causes, you can combine solar panels with a home battery system. This will give you the peace of mind of knowing that you and your family will always have power when you need it. 

EnergySage offers free tools that make it easy to compare quotes from vetted solar installers in your area while also making sure that you take maximum advantage of tax rebates and other incentives, saving customers up to $10,000 in the process. 

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