In a highly competitive environment between the leading world powers for spheres of geopolitical influence, it becomes important to implement the projects and programs aimed at promoting Russian language and education in Russian in regions of the world. Selection of the regions and countries of focus, which to the greatest extent meet these goals, is an important scientific and practical task that allows making projects as efficient as possible. The article presents the experience of solving this task through the use of method of multifactor classification. The main factors affecting successful promotion of the Russian language and education in Russian were revealed; evolution of the position of countries of Latin America in foreign policy of the Russian Federation was traced; groups of countries that differ by potential of promoting the programs of studying Russian language and education in Russian were identified.

The formation of anthropogenic hydrology studying various aspects of the impact of human activities on water resources and water environment are considered. Some results of the authors’ calculations of this effect on river runoff on a local (the Moscow River basin), regional (the Volga and Don river basins), national and global levels are presented. A great contribution of Russian researchers to the development of anthropogenic hydrology is showed. Special attention is paid to geographical and hydrological school of M.I. L’vovich. The composition of anthropogenic impacts on water resources involves as traditional direct impacts (hydraulic construction, water intake for various economic needs) and indirect, carried out in the catchments through soil, vegetation, landscape (measures of rain-fed agriculture, forestry, urbanization of landscapes). The amounts of modern industrial impact on water resources in concerned territorial levels are calculated. It is shown that the impact of aggregate anthropogenic factors in the considered examples is comparable with the influence of climatic factors and often surpasses it. Moreover, at present, various indirect anthropogenic factors affect river runoff ambiguously and are mostly mutually compensated.

The article analyzes the average multiyear data on the distribution and mode of dissolved organic matter (DOM, aquahumus), alkaline-acidic conditions (pH), mineralization (Σи) of river waters of natural provinces and countries of mountains with desert-subtropical types of vertical zonality in Russia and CIS countries. The study is based on the results of experimental researches and systematic observations the network of Hydrometeorological Service. River waters at the main area of desert-subtropical mountains during the year are alkaline, and they are slightly alkaline in Caucasus regions. The mineralization of water of the rivers of mountains generally varies from 400–420 mg/dm3 in the high water and floods up to 530 mg/dm3 at low water. It varies from 200–500 mg/dm3 in the Caucasus up to 500–1000 mg/dm3 and above in most mountain regions of Central Asia. The average colouration of water of mountain rivers is equal to 9°; for individual regions it varies from 7о to 18о. The values of permanganate oxidation (PO, Operm) and dichromate oxidation (DO, Odich) of river water of the studied mountains are 3 and 7 mg/dm3, varying in natural areas within wide limits. Average annual relation PO/DO is equal to 35%, a DOM/Σи is 2%. Extreme average concentrations of humic acids (HA) in the river waters of the considered mountains are in range from 0–0.015 in the winter low water period
up to 0.010–0.045 mg/dm3 of carbon in the flood, the quantities of fulvic acids (FA) are from 0.170–0.470 to 0.330–0.640 mg/dm3 of carbon; the relationship of CHA/CFA is in range 0–7%. Minor the content dissolved organic matter in the rivers the studied region conditioned of the arid climate, low biomass stocks in fitopatogene, intense transformation and the inertia of organic matter in the landscape.

Connection of variability of the annual and spring Volga River runoff with the North Atlantic Oscillation index (INAO) during 1882–2007 are studied on the base of spectral evaluations obtained by Fourier transform method. Cross-spectrum evaluations obtained reveal the opposite correlation between runoff variation and INAO for the typical cycles with 7–9 (average INAO in winter) and 12–16-year periods (average INAO in summer). In-phase link of runoff of 5-year periods of the summer INAO is revealed also for near 40-year periods for the winter INAO. Analysis of the running power spectrum carried out for the annual Volga River runoff and for the seasonal INAO showed instability of 12–16-year and 5-year fluctuations and relative stability of 7–9-year quasi-cycles.

During the 2-year monitoring of CO2 soil emission in southern taiga mature spruce forests, the effect of local (within 1–2 m2), but significant (3-fold above background levels) and long-term (over 2 years) enhanced CO2 emission in the root zone of standing spruce dead wood was found. Apparently, the above-mentioned effect is described in the literature for the first time. The studied spruce trees died due to the continuing climate warming and the subsequent attacks of saprotrophic root fungi and species of xylophagous beetles. As the most probable cause of the observed effect, the rise of respiration of pathogenic fungal flora in the rhizosphere zone of the dead standing trees is discussed. The found effect is not only important to account for this additional significant source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, which is especially important, when considering the influence of climate-driven windfalls or biogenic destruction of spruce forests. It is also applicable for express-diagnostics of the spruce state at the first stage of its destruction after mass pest attack, when obvious visible signs of tree decay are absent.

Inclusion of Novomoskovsky and Troitsky administrative okrugs in 2012 has led to the increase of the Moscow City area in 2.35 times. While the territory of Old Moscow was explored in detail from the geological, geomorphological and hydrological viewpoints, only local investigations are connected with New Moscow’s objects. The paper presents overall complex hydro-geomorphological description of a set of streams located inside the new borders of the city (Pakhra, Desna, Neznaika, Mocha, Likova rivers).

The history of economic reclaiming taiga geosystems of the southern part of the Lena-Angara Plateau is examined with a research objective of their anthropogenic transformation. Fluctuating changes of the intensity of the agricultural and forestry activity of local population are pointed out. Agricultural area enlarged and the industrial development of forest resources increased for the time interval since the late 19th century till 1980s. Since the end of the 20th century the economic activity decreases that is associated with the state reorganization of national economy and with the creation within the studied site of the nature reserve. The map of the modern landscape structure has been compiled. Its analysis showed that despite the lack of permanent settlements and low activity of production facilities, about half of the study area is occupied by the transformed complexes. Forest fires became the reason of this process. Their appearance on the territory of the Lena-Angara Plateau is associated with human activity. Based on historical and geographical materials the evaluation of the recovery dynamics of the transformed geosystems is carried out. In lack of an anthropogenous factor on restoration natural mountain taiga larch forests will be required about 70 years; for emergence of the cedar forests which are absent now, perhaps, centuries are necessary.

The paper deals with the history of the agricultural development of the forest zone of the East European Plain basing on the geoecological concept of agricultural landscape. A number of stages of agricultural development are described including the period of non-plow agriculture, the period of plow agriculture before the Turmoil, the period of agricultural development after the Turmoil, and agricultural development in the 20th century. The conclusion is done about the regularity of the decline in agriculture in the forest zone of the East European Plain to the end of the 20th century.

The article considers the insufficiently studied in scientific literature issues, connected with geographical researches by Dmitrii Aleksandrovich Klements during his stay in a political exile in Minusinsk. The base of this article are the documents of the Siberian archives (Tomsk, Irkutsk, Minusinsk), which are earlier not introduced for scientific use. Using the methodology of modern biographic history the author has attempted to reconstruct D. A. Klements’ life in an administrative exile and to show how he has transformed from the revolutionary populist into the scientist and the traveler who has played a big role in geographical, geological, ethnographic and archaeological studying of the Minusinsk Depression, Kuznetsk Alatau, Altai and Tuva. Such aspects of activity of D. A. Klements as museum work and newspaper journalism are studied. His contribution in geographical studying of the remote and earlier little-studied places of Southern Siberia is defined, in particular, in mapping of area, the analysis of its geological structure, and the collecting of fauna and flora.