News in Russia
By: Connor High
Trans-Siberian Railroad
The Trans-Siberian Railroad is the worlds longest railroad, running about 6,000 miles straight. The railroad is used for taking goods all over Europe and Asia. The tracks had to be built over terrains like mountains, lakes, rivers and forests. For the railway to be built, thousands of soldiers, convicts and peasants were enlisted to help with the work. One problem with the railroad is that the gauge, or width of the rails is wider than in Asia, so the track cannot connect.
Chernobyl
Chernobyl was a nuclear power plant that caught fire and exploded on April 26, 1986. When the plant exploded, it released a radioactive cloud that went over Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. The strong winds at that time took the huge amount of fallout all the way to northern Europe. After this, all of the living things things in the surrounding area had been contaminated the radiation. Even today the radiation is almost every where with in miles of Chernobyl.
The Aral Sea
The Aral Sea is a lake in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan that has almost fully disappeared due to human activity. The loss of most of the Aral Sea is affecting farmers and fisherman. The Aral Sea used to engulf the weeds and pesticides, keeping them from harming the environment, but now that these are destroying the environment. The Aral Sea used to be the fourth largest lake in the world, but now it's less than half its current size. Most of Central Asia is arid and semiarid meaning they don't get much moisture and the Aral sea gave it moisture, but now that its gone, the moisture is too. In 2005 the World Bank built a dam to preserve the lake, and fishing has come back to the area.