From subtropical climates to the coldest place in the world

That was close.... On Monday, Prof. Dr. Claus Wendt had to cancel his appearance at the children's university on the following Tuesday due to health reasons. Dr. Daniel Müller stepped in at short notice. Instead of the topic of nutrition and health, the focus was now on the very different climate in Russia's eleven time zones and the effects that extreme weather conditions have on the lives of local people. The largest country in the world covers an area of 17 million square kilometers. The distance from west to east is around 9300 kilometers. 140 million people live in Russia. As Russia is around 50 times the size of Germany, which is home to a good 82 million people, this means that Russia is comparatively sparsely populated, which is certainly also due to geographical and climatic conditions.

Müller: "When the children in Kaliningrad have breakfast, the children in Vladivostok go to bed." This is an effect of the different time zones in Russia. Oimjakon is considered the coldest place in the world. Winter temperatures as low as minus 67.7 °C have been measured here. Müller: "Nowhere else in the world is colder." In summer, the thermometer can reach temperatures of plus 38 °C. Lake Baikal is over 1600 meters deep and contains around 20 percent of the world's freshwater repertoire. The salty Aral Sea between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, however, has almost dried up. Too much water has been "diverted".

There is permafrost in Siberia. The city of Noril'sk, not far from the Arctic Circle, has around 200,000 inhabitants and no roads. The houses are built on stilts. When it thaws, the mud goes deep and would destroy roads and possibly houses. The city of Murmansk is also very far north, but is ice-free due to the Gulf Stream. In the south of Russia - for example in Sochi - the climate is subtropical. Coffee and lemons are grown here. There is the sandy desert of Turkmenistan and the high mountains in Tajikistan. Around 100 peoples live in Russia. Among them are relatives of the American and Canadian Apaches. Their ancestors once "emigrated" over the ice. The kinship is reflected not least in the language. Speaking of language: there are languages with more than 80 consonants in the Caucasus!

Daniel Müller invited the children on a journey through Russia, drawing their attention to special features and very different ways of life. The lecture was followed by a large number of questions. The lecturer was also extensively questioned about the lecture by the children after the event.