Russia's 'hellish' heat wave: By the numbers

Russia is on fire. For weeks, the typically cool country has suffered a scorching heat wave that's left thousands dead, hundreds homeless, and the countryside ablaze with wildfires. President Dmitry Medvedev declared a state of emergency on Monday amid forecasts of continued blistering temperatures. The heat wave comes during what has been — so far — the hottest year on record around the world. (Watch a Russia Today report about the heat wave.) Here, a statistical look at Russia's heatwave:

73° F

Normal daily high in Moscow during the summer months

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101°

Temperature in Moscow on Thursday — the highest reading ever in the city

111°

Temperature on Monday in the fire-ravaged southern provence of Voronezh

25 million

Acres of crops ruined by the heat wave

50%

Expected decline in Russia's wheat exports this year

1,000%

Increase in air pollution in Moscow last week due to peat bog fires near the city

2

Packs of cigarettes one would have to smoke per day to equal the effects of Moscow's smog-choked air

300%

Increase in sales of Russian soft drinks

500

Number of new fires emergency crews have discovered in the past day

180,000

Number of people working to fight the blazes

2,000

Approximate number of people — many of them intoxicated — who have drowned while attempting to cool off in rivers

8/1

Date on which Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox church, asked for all Russians to "to unite in prayer for rain to descend on our earth."

Sources: Reuters, BBC (2), WSJ, Bloomberg, Financial Times, NYT, Prime-Tass, Sydney Morning Herald, Guardian