“Russia this year has suffered the most Arctic wildfires since satellite monitoring started as climate change creates the conditions necessary for blazes to start and then take hold.
“Monitoring by two Nasa satellites recorded 10,057 hotspots in Russia’s Arctic territory by the start of August, 10 times more than were found in the same period a decade ago, according to data provided to The Telegraph.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/12/record-wildfires-russian-arctic-ice-gives-way-flame/
“It’s been a scorching weekend in Saskatchewan as the province bakes in a heatwave. Three all-time heat records were broken on Saturday, along with five monthly records, according to Environment Canada.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/heat-records-broken-sask-1.4782580
“On Saturday, the old record set in 1978 of 34.9 degrees Celsius was crushed as the city of Winnipeg reached a high of 37.1.”
“Extremely hot summers and brutally cold winters—widely understood to be effects of climate change—are likely to have a huge impact on the U.S. economy in the coming decades, according to a new analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond that overturns previous thinking on the topic.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/will-this-summers-record-high-temperatures-scorch-the-broader-economy/
“This week, the ocean temperature off Torrey Pines was measured at 81.3 degrees, breaking a 17-year-record for water temperature along the California coast. Last week, researchers measured the water temperature at Scripps Pier at 78.6 degrees which set a regional temperature record.”
“As of Friday, there were 114 total wildfires across the country, consuming a combined area larger than the state of Delaware… California is on track to have one of its worst wildfire seasons on record.”
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2018/08/wildfires-mendocino-complex-carr/
“On video, it looked like a glowing, orange tornado, that post-storm damage surveys have shown contained winds of at least 143 miles 
per hour — equivalent to an EF-3 tornado. The images, taken by authorized drone operators, show what happens when you combine the capriciousness of a wildfire with the fickle fate dolled out by a fire tornado [California].”
“Cedar Grove Police Lt. Frank Pumphrey said he hasn’t witnessed flooding like this since Hurricane Floyd in 1999… The highest rainfall totals were reported in Bergen, Essex and Passaic counties [NJ, according to early reports. Caldwell topped the list with a staggering 4.92 inches.”
https://www.nj.com/weather/index.ssf/2018/08/nj_weather_towns_start_clean_up_after_flood_washes.html
“The [UK’s] heatwave will cause tens of thousands of homes to sink into the ground, insurers have warned, as they are braced for subsidence claims to quadruple. Over the past two months a record breaking spell of hot and dry weather has caused the soil on which homes are built to shrink, which will result in many sinking into the ground later this year, it is claimed.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/10/heatwave-will-cause-tens-thousands-homes-sink-ground/
“So far this year the Netherlands had 51 summer days – days on which temperatures climbed to 25 degrees or higher in De Bilt, according to Weeronline. 2006 also had 51 summer days, but spread over the entire year. Sunday was the 51st summer day of 2018. Only one more hot day is needed to break the 2006 record.”
https://nltimes.nl/2018/08/13/record-number-summer-days-netherlands
“With blisteringly hot summers becoming a regular occurrence, climate change could soon push an environment that is uncomfortable into one that is unsustainable — particularly for countries along the Arab Gulf and in North Africa. The past three years have been the hottest in Egypt since temperatures have been recorded, said Ashraf Zaki, representative of the Egyptian Meteorological Authority.”
“A huge shortfall in snow and rain across much of [Afghanistan] over the normally wet colder months decimated the winter harvest, threatening the already precarious livelihoods of millions of farmers and sparking warnings of severe food shortages.”
https://phys.org/news/2018-08-farmers-war-torn-afghanistan-worst-drought.html
“”Our state is in the midst of an unprecedented flood havoc,” explained Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in a statement Friday. “For the first time in history, 27 dams in the state had to be opened. Never before has the state witnessed a calamity of this scale,” the minister added.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/12/asia/kerala-india-floods-intl/index.html
“Typhoon Yagi is likely to make landfall around Yuhuan or Xiangshan in Zhejiang Province during the night of August 12, weather authorities have announced. It is the third typhoon that will impact Shanghai within a month, a first in recorded history.”
https://www.shine.cn/news/metro/1808110302/
“Massive clean-up efforts are under way in Manila after heavy rains deluged the Philippine capital over the weekend. At least three people are known to have died in the flooding, say officials.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45166382
“Lee Chang-seok at Seoul Women’s University said, “Trees have withered even in the mountains, which have richer soil and hold more water underground, showing how severe the [Korean] drought is.””
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2018/08/13/2018081301102.html
“A record heatwave has put Japan’s world-famous Tsukiji fish market in a crisis in its final months at its current site at Tokyo’s Chuo ward… According to the report, the market’s ageing air conditioning system has malfunctioned and cannot keep fish and seafood fresh amid high temperatures since the heatwave blanketed Japan in mid-July.”
“The agency predicts rainfall of up to 100 millimeters over the 24-hour period through 6 a.m. on Aug. 14 in Tokyo and surrounding prefectures as well as in the central Japan region of Tokai including Nagoya.”
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20180813/p2a/00m/0na/005000c
“A huge convoy of about 20 road trains laden with 2,000 bales of hay is en route from outback Western Australia to drought-stricken farmers in New South Wales.”
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-13/drought-relief-convoy-leaves-wa-bound-for-nsw-farmers/10113044
“At 50C – halfway to water’s boiling point and more than 10C above a healthy body temperature – heat becomes toxic. Human cells start to cook, blood thickens, muscles lock around the lungs and the brain is choked of oxygen…
“Not long ago, 50C was considered an anomaly, but it is increasingly widespread. Earlier this year, the 1.1 million residents of Nawabshah, Pakistan, endured the hottest April ever recorded on Earth, as temperatures hit 50.2C. In neighbouring India two years earlier, the town of Phalodi sweltered in 51C – the country’s hottest ever day…
““We must hope that we don’t see 50C. That would be uncharted territory. Infrastructure would be crippled and ecosystem services would start to break down, with long-term consequences.””
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/aug/13/halfway-boiling-city-50c
Read the previous ‘Climate’ thread here.
