“Rare tropical fish from Australia have been spotted in New Zealand waters after a record-breaking hot summer and warm ocean temperatures lured the creatures across the Tasman sea.
“The Queensland groper, also known as the giant grouper, is the aquatic emblem of the state and was spotted swimming around the wreck of the HMNZ Canterbury in the Bay of Islands on Sunday, more than 3,000 kilometres away from its usual cruising spots on the coral reefs and estuaries off the Queensland coast.
“New Zealand experienced its hottest summer on record this year, largely propelled by a “marine heatwave” during which sea temperatures rose as much as six degrees in some areas, and 2-4 in the region where the groper was spotted.
“Figures released by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research found the average temperature during January was 20.3C – more than three degrees above normal…”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/29/new-zealand-marine-heatwave-tropical
“This time last week 15 towns and cities across New Zealand were on track for their warmest May on record – some were recording temperatures more like early summer by mid month. By the end of the weekend… the typically sub-tropical Whangarei dropped to 0.8 degrees Celsius on Wednesday morning, its coldest May temperature since 1976, according to Niwa.”
“Farmers on the Hawaiian island of Kauai say their state should brace for a shortage of its taro crop, a staple of the traditional Hawaiian diet, after record-breaking rains flooded their fields.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rain-in-kauai-swamps-taro-crop-hawaii-poi-shortage-predicted/
“Not only does the dwindling snowpack put California’s water supply at risk, it also portends more floods, wildfires and mudslides over the coming year. This is precisely what makes climate change so dangerous. Even small changes in weather can have cascading effects, multiplying the risk of natural disaster.”
“Back in mid-April, when we were all hip-deep in snow drifts, who would have predicted such a jaw-dropping turnaround in the weather? I sure didn’t. The weather pendulum swung fast and hard in the opposite direction, sparking the biggest May heat wave in the historical record.”
http://www.startribune.com/earliest-100f…/483884291/
“Heat across the south-central United States is expected to worsen later this week, endangering residents and putting many record highs in jeopardy. High temperatures are expected to steadily climb across the South Central states this week.”
https://www.accuweather.com/…/many-records-in…/70005067
“May 2018 is now the hottest on record for much of Missouri.”
http://www.komu.com/news/may-2018-is-the-hottest-on-record
“As roaring flash floods battered the Washington D.C. area on Sunday and ravaged one Maryland town, nearby Virginia also struggled with mudslides and power outages…”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/…/6-000-Virginia-residents…
“The storm is threatening the Southeast with flooding as it is expected to spread moisture across the region into the middle of the week.”
https://edition.cnn.com/…/weather-storm…/index.html
“Train services between Glasgow Central and Lanark have been cancelled after soaring temperatures left rail tracks distorted.”
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/…/trains-cancelled…
“Firefighters have been tackling three wildfires in the Scottish Highlands.”
http://www.thenational.scot/…/16254118.WATCH__Three…/
“…while this month has already become the hottest May in Danish history, the next few days will only serve to consolidate that statistic.”
http://cphpost.dk/…/record-may-set-to-end-on-hot-note.html
“The authorities in Herrstein reported that a 1.6-metre flood wave had swept through the district. In Fischbach, cars were carried away due to the floods… Temperatures similar to those typically enjoyed in the tropics are forecast for Germany this week… Highs into the 30s were also seen in parts of Germany last month, which was the hottest April ever recorded in the country.”
https://www.thelocal.de/…/tropical-temperatures-in..
“The Western Cape’s dam levels have inched upwards. They’ve gone up by an average of 2.4%, with capacity sitting at 19% collectively.”
http://ewn.co.za/2018/05/29/this-drought-is-far-from-over
“The heatwave coincides with the beginning of Ramazan, when millions of devout Pakistanis abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset. In June 2015 about 1,200 people died in Karachi during a heatwave, with nearly two-thirds of the victims homeless people.”
https://nation.com.pk/…/karachi-likely-to-blaze-as…
“North India continued to reel under heat wave on Monday. While Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh broke the record of 30 years at 48.6 degrees Celsius.”
http://zeenews.india.com/…/heat-wave-continues-unabated…
“Disaster management officials in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand states said a combined total of 47 people had died in overnight storms across the region.”
https://gulfnews.com/…/storms-lightning-kill-at-least…
“Torrential rain coupled with strong winds temporarily crippled the island for about two hours in several areas here late Monday.” [You may recall that Penang broke its all-time rainfall record in Nov].
https://www.thestar.com.my/…/two-hour-storm-causes…/
“Taiwan has been sweltering in record high temperatures for May. On May 27, the temperature in Taipei City reached 38.2°C, setting the highest temperature for the month of May since records began to be kept 122 years ago.”
http://taiwanenglishnews.com/heat-related-injuries…/
“The waters of the fjords of Svalbard—the Arctic archipelago between mainland Norway and the North Pole—are known to snap, crackle and pop with the sound of melting icebergs and glaciers.”
https://www.scientificamerican.com/…/how-fast-are…/