Moscow swelters as summer temperatures soar

(28 Jul 2010) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of Moscow city centre, the Kremlin visible in background
2. Various of street scenes, traffic and pedestrians
3. Exterior of Telegraph building with digital screen showing date and temperature of 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit)
4. Various of people cooling off in fountains
5. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vox Pop, Yevgenia, Moscow resident:
"How do we fight (the heat)? We swim in fountains. It is not allowed in ponds, they are dirty, that's why we swim in fountains. There's chlorine in here so, it is cleaner."
6. Wide of Manezhnaya Square opposite the Kremlin
7. Various of people cooling off in fountains
8. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vox Pop, Vyacheslav, Moscow resident:
"Good, it is very good, especially here in the fountain. But in general, it is very hot, stuffy, it is not possible to do anything, to play. The only thing one wants is to be closer to water places."
9. Wide of Manezhnaya Square
10. Various of people in fountains
11. Close of Kremlin tower and red star, with street lights and water from fountain in foreground
STORYLINE
A cloud of harmful smog has enveloped Moscow, raising airborne pollutants to four times the norm, officials said on Wednesday, and prompting doctors to urge residents to stay indoors as the city swelters in a record heat wave.
Officials said the smog, which has plunged the Kremlin and other famous landmarks into a dull haze for days, was the capital's worst since 2002.
The cloud has drifted in from dozens of peat bog and forest fires in rural land south and east of the city, Emergencies Ministry officials said.
Health officials have urged Muscovites who have to venture outside to don face masks to ward off the worst of the poisonous carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbolic acid particles in the smog.
And all the while, the city has been sizzling in record temperatures.
While Moscow routinely has hot summers, this year has been a record-breaker, with daily maximums around 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) for two weeks.
The all-time high of 37.5 degrees Celsius (99.5 Fahrenheit) was set on Monday.
But digital thermometers in the city centre, indicated 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday.
Muscovites are ignoring the health risks, and cooling off in the fountains of the ornate Manezhnaya Square opposite the Kremlin.
Some Soviet-era housing in Moscow has such poor insulation that apartments offer little reprieve.
The majority of Russian offices, especially businesses that cannot afford a spot in steel-and-glass office buildings, have no air-conditioning.
On Moscow's subway system, which serves at least 8 million people a day, temperatures at some stations have sparked angry exchanges between consumer watchdogs and transport officials over the lack of adequate air conditioning.
With officials advising people to stay indoors, a way to fight off the worst effects of the heat and smog for people with no air conditioning is to hang wet blankets, physicians said, which attract dust particles and cool the air.
Residents were also urged to change clothes regularly, take showers, and clean noses and throats regularly to rinse away harmful smog particles.
The heat, which is relatively mild for the United States but highly unusual in Northern Europe, is expected to ease in the coming days.
But the smog could be around for weeks.
Peat bog fires are notoriously difficult to extinguish.
When moisture is low, such as during heat waves, the peat, which is high in carbon, can ignite and smoulder underground.
The Moscow region, an official entity surrounding but not including the city, is home to thousands of hectares (acres) of peat bogs.
Environmentalists said the 2002 smog that blanketed Moscow killed hundreds of people.
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