“Large amounts of dust from Asian deserts could be contributing to the warming of Arctic sea surfaces, but satellites are misreading these temperatures as being colder than they are.
“That’s according to a recent study published in Scientific Reports by Ron Vincent, an associate professor in the department of physics and space science at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ont. He studies sea and water surface temperatures in the Arctic.
“”I don’t think people think about the Arctic as being a particularly dusty place, and I don’t think it’s well known just how much dust is being transported to the Arctic,” he said.
“Approximately 6.5 million metric tons of dust are deposited north of 60 every year, much of it coming from deserts in Asia, according to another study cited in the paper…
“Satellites misread the surface temperature, Vincent said, because dust doesn’t emit energy as efficiently as water or ice surfaces. Therefore, satellites report the temperature as being colder than it actually is…
“”With global warming, we’re seeing more and more drylands, and we’re seeing more dust storms occurring and more violent dust storms. So what this implies is that we can expect more dust coming to the Arctic with time,” he said.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/dust-arctic-warming-satellites-1.4819753
“The Canadian Rockies have seen back-to-back summers of intense wildfire activity and smoke, while glaciers at higher elevations continue their slow decline. For glaciologist and University of Calgary professor Shawn Marshall, while both wildfires and the recession of glaciers are connected to the effects of climate change globally, as fires burn in Western Canada they are also contributing to the loss of ice.”
https://www.rmoutlook.com/article/wildfires-bad-news-for-western-canadas-glaciers-20180913
“While summers are normally dry in the Northwest, unusual and in many places record-breaking weather left many Washington rivers running at less than half their normal levels in August, according to USGS. It’s what the Northwest is expected to look like a couple decades down the road if we humans can’t get climate change under control.”
https://www.kuow.org/stories/driest-summer-in-a-century-offers-seattle-a-taste-of-its-future
“After multiple heatwaves that literally burned the leaves off native California plants in the campus botanical garden, it almost goes without saying: 2018 was UCLA’s hottest summer ever recorded. Naturally, that included the hottest temperature ever recorded at UCLA: a blistering 111 degrees Fahrenheit on July 7, blasting past the 1939 record of 109 degrees.”
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/this-summer-was-the-hottest-ever-at-ucla
“Tropical Storm Olivia made landfall Wednesday on Hawaii’s island of Maui, passed south of Oahu and weakened as it dumped moderate to heavy rain that flooded roads… Olivia follows Hurricane Lane, which dropped more than 50 inches of rain last month on Hawaii, the second-highest rainfall total from a tropical cyclone in the United States since 1950.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/12/us/olivia-hawaii-wxc/index.html
“The Philippines is bracing for Typhoon Mangkhut, the most powerful storm this year, with millions living in its path and fears its rains could combine with monsoonal storms that could spark landslides and flash flooding… The typhoon is arriving at the start of the rice and corn harvest season in Cagayan, a major agricultural producer, and farmers were scrambling to save what they could of their crops, Mamba said. The Philippines has been trying to cope with rice shortages.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/13/typhoon-mangkhut-storm-and-monsoon-philippines
“In July, parts of western Japan were deluged with more than 1,000mm (39 inches) of torrential rain. Gushing water broke levees and landslides destroyed houses, killing more than 200 people in the country’s worst weather disaster in 36 years. “If this happened to Tokyo, the city would suffer catastrophic damage,” said Nobuyuki Tsuchiya, director of the Japan Riverfront Research Center and author of the book ‘Capital Submerged’.”
“The frosts of late November last year, as well as the frosts and hail storms recorded in spring and summer this year, have entailed a reduction in Valencia’s [Spain] estimated kaki production. For now, the total volume this campaign is expected to fall by more than 30%.”
“Germany faces a severe potato shortage as a consequence of unusually hot and dry weather this summer, the German Farming Society (DLG) warned on Wednesday. “We are expecting one of the smallest potato harvests of all times in Germany”, Martin Umhau, a member of the DLG supervisory board, told the German press agency (dpa).”
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-09/12/c_137463528.htm
“”There is an emerging understanding of the link between our changing climate and the rising incidence of various infectious diseases,” said Sarah Coates from the University of California, San Francisco, as per PTI.”
“Subtropical Storm Joyce formed over the western Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 12, joining Hurricane Florence, Tropical Storm Isaac and Hurricane Helene at the height of the 2018 hurricane season. Joyce is expected to gain tropical characteristics, and some strengthening is forecast.”
https://eu.floridatoday.com/story/weather/2018/09/13/tropical-storm-joyce-path-track/1287742002/
“The origins of Florence are unusual, too. “Florence developed further north and east in the Atlantic than you’d expect for a storm that reaches the US,” said Chris Davis, senior scientist at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research. “Storms like that don’t usually make it that far west. But it’s moving at a steady clip and baring down on some pretty vulnerable parts of North Carolina.””
“Authorities in the U.S. Southeast are checking dams and urging their owners to lower water levels ahead of Hurricane Florence, which is expected to unleash torrential rains and test the thousands of dams in the region. Florence is expected to dump up to 30 inches of rain and 40 inches in some areas, according to the National Hurricane Center.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-florence-looms-states-check-dam-integrity-1536750000
“Fewer homeowners in North and South Carolina own flood insurance than five years ago, signaling many won’t have access to ready cash if they need to rebuild after Hurricane Florence. Standard homeowners’ insurance policies typically cover damage from fire and other storm-related events. But they exclude storm surge and other flooding damage—and wind damage, in some coastal counties.”
