Natural disasters bring a lot of trouble. In monetary terms as well. They are on the uptrend unfortunately. In 2009 the damage caused by such calamities amounted to 63 bin dollars, in 2010 it was 222 bln and in July to October of 2011, the bill was as much as 320 bln dollars. Therefore research into global climatic changes ought to be brought to a new, higher level. These and many other related problems were considered by research scientists at a conference held at the Institute of Climatic and Ecological Systems Monitoring (Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences). Such conferences have been held on a regular basis since 1995. Olga Bulgakova of the Nauka v Sibiri (Science in Siberia) newspaper has details.

Mikhail Kabanov, who heads the Tomsk Institute and the organizational committee of the conference, pointed out that the "problems of monitoring natural and climatic changes and their prognosis are still at the initial stage of research for a number of reasons. The physical fundamentals of the theory of climate and its modeling have so far been involved with description of weather-forming, not climate-forming processes... The world and domestic monitoring networks are developing without due regard for integrated research into climate-regulating and environment-forming factors. Spatial and time-related factors have not been studied well enough either. Consequently, we have to take a fresh look at natural and climatic changes as well as their modeling so as to obtain required instrumental data."

The basic workshop involving scientists from 35 research centers all the way from Moscow to Yakutsk in Siberia concentrated on the goal-oriented program for an integrated network of comprehensive climate monitoring in Siberia. This program takes in a period from

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2012 to 2017. It is playing a major part in prognosticating the economic advancement of this federal area and adjacent regions. The integrated monitoring network will comprise 12 stations covering the vast territory east of the Urals to Kamchatka and the Maritime Territory (Primorye) in the Far East. As a matter of fact, many countries are planning similar projects; say, a megaproject envisaged in the United States will provide for as many as 22 stations.

Continuing his train of thought, Mikhail Kabanov stressed in particular: "Even one superstation planned for the Island of Samoilovsky will not reverse the present situation. Formerly climate-changing processes (hydro-meteorological, aerosol-radiation, cryospheric and other factors) were being studies apart, separately, not in the overall synchronization mode. What we need is a transition from solitary stations and networks to a well-integrated system."

This project calls for considerable financial support. Most of this money should be spent on upgrading the material and technical base of the available monitoring stations since many are outdated. If implemented, this program will make it possible to bring research to a qualitatively new and higher level and attract more investments for Siberia.

O. Bulgakova, "From Isolated Points to a Network", Nauka v Sibiri (Science in Siberia), No. 41, 2011