"In Russia, the wildfires are believed caused by a warming climate that made the current summer the hottest on record. The hotter weather increases the incidence of lightning, the major cause of naturally occurring biomass burning. Soja said she hopes the wildfires in Russia prompt the country to support efforts to mitigate climate change. In fact, Russia’s president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, last month acknowledged the need to do something about it. "What’s happening with the planet’s climate right now needs to be a wake-up call to all of us, meaning all heads of state, all heads of social organizations, in order to take a more energetic approach to countering the global changes to the climate," said Medvedev, in contrast to Russia’s long-standing position that human-induced climate change is not occurring."
http://climate.nasa.gov/news/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=400