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(CNN) - Russia's capital has registered record temperatures this December, while snow is forecast to arrive only at the end of the month.
Moscow reached 6.2 degrees Celsius (43.2 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, the warmest temperature recorded for the date.
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Usually, the city is covered with snow in December, but excessively warm temperatures have cast a gray atmosphere on the streets decorated with festive lights for the celebration of the New Year.
This unusually warm weather has also led to a public discussion about the climate crisis, an issue that is not usually a priority in a country that relies heavily on hydrocarbon exports.
People walk on the Tverskoi Boulevard in the center of Moscow. (Credit: Mikhail TereshchenkoTASS via Getty Images)
During the annual press conference of Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, a journalist asked what risks climate change represents for the country.
Putin recognized the increase in temperatures globally, but threw questions about the human role in climate change.
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"We know that in the history of the Earth there have been periods of warming and cooling, and this could depend on the global processes in the universe," he replied. "A small inclination of the Earth's axis and its orbit around the sun can lead to very serious climatic changes on Earth, which have already had dramatic consequences, good or bad but they were dramatic," he added.
“And it is happening again now. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to determine exactly how humanity affects climate change. But we cannot remain inactive, I agree with my colleagues. We should do our best to avoid dramatic changes in the weather, ”he added.
An employee of a meteorological station of the Tsentralnoye UGMS (the Central Territorial Administration for Hydrometeorological and Environmental Monitoring) at the VDNKh exhibition center in Moscow. (Credit: Anton Novoderezhkin TASS via Getty Images)
Russia signed the Paris Agreement to control greenhouse gas emissions, but the country's official response to climate change has sometimes been slow. This summer, dozens of cities were affected by forest fires that spread throughout the Arctic region.
Moscow, however, could still have a white Christmas. Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on January 7 and the state meteorological agency said that an extensive cyclone from Eastern Europe can alter air flows in the region, which would bring cooler weather.
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As the cyclone forms, the agency said, "it will deepen the tropospheric void over central Russia, thus giving hope for the return of 'winter' in the region."
Outdoor ice skating at VDNKh, a park in northern Moscow that also hosts the capital's main weather station, remained open to the public on Wednesday.
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