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A 20-year-old man has been arrested following an assault at the New World Chaffers car park in Wellington over the weekend. Police were called to reports of a group of people fighting in the New World Chaffers car park around 2.10am…

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When you think of Siberia, the last thing you might think of is searing heat.

But sweltering temperatures are being recorded all across the immense region of Russia.

Ground temperatures in Verkhojansk, well above the Arctic circle, were recorded at 48C by the European Space Agency's Copernicus Sentinel satellites.

READ MORE: Temperature hits 38 degrees in Arctic town

While the air temperature in the region was a comparatively mild 30C, the scorching summer there has global ramifications.

Because while the hot ground is an indication of climate change, it has the capacity to make the greenhouse effect far, far worse.

Much of the ground in Siberia is permafrost, earth that remains below zero degrees at all time.

When it gets too warm, it has the potential to release vast quantities of climate change-causing methane into the atmosphere.

READ MORE: Methane discharge 'cracking permafrost' in Arctic

The thawing ground also has the capacity to destabilise buildings and cause landslides.

The sweltering heat also has the potential for more disastrous consequences.

Siberia is home to immense forests or taigas, prone to devastating wildfires.

Such fires have the potential to pump an enormous volume of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The onset of summer suggests there's little chance of Siberia cooling down any time soon.

READ MORE: Mystery holes in Siberian tundra could be linked to climate change

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s trade mission to Australia has been delayed until later in the year.This was due to the Covid-19 situation in Australia, a spokeswoman from her office said.Ardern was set to travel to Australia…