Newly arriving species may be bringing rare or novel pathogens to the Arctic and old ones may be reviving in melting permafrost:
“…Humpbacks are not the only marine mammals that have been expanding their range northward. Most notably, as sea ice melts, ice-avoiding killer whales have been moving deeper into the Arctic Ocean, hunting and killing both narwhal and beluga whales. Other whale species — including minke, bottlenose, fin, and sperm whales — are also making their way north as the Arctic heats up. At the same time, on land, grizzly bears, white-tailed deer, coyotes, and other animals and birds have been expanding their range into the warming boreal forest and Arctic tundra.
“…emerging evidence suggests that some of these newly arriving species may be bringing rare or novel pathogens to the Arctic. In recent years, a plethora of deadly and debilitating diseases have struck reindeer in Scandinavia and Russia, muskoxen on Banks and Victoria islands in Arctic Canada, polar bears and seals off the coast of Alaska, and eider ducks in northern Hudson Bay and the Bering Sea…
“Another possibility being investigated by scientists is that bacteria such as anthrax — an outbreak of which resulted in the culling of 250,000 reindeer in western Siberia in 2016 and 2017 — are being liberated by rapidly thawing permafrost. The anthrax outbreak in the far northern Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug of Siberia compelled Russia’s Department of Defense to launch an emergency task force to help vaccinate 730,000 reindeer. One person died from anthrax, and several dozen reindeer herders got sick when the animals succumbed to the disease. A record heat wave that swept across the tundra that summer is thought to have thawed out reindeer carcasses that were infected with the spores.”
https://e360.yale.edu/features/is-warming-bringing-a-wave-of-new-diseases-to-arctic-wildlife
“Greenland’s ice sheet lost up to 270 billion tons of ice every year between 2012 and 2014, according to a study in Geophysical Research Letters.
“Currently, it’s losing ice at a rate faster than any time in the last 400 years, and the melt is accelerating, a separate study stated. This is what Tom Hegen, a photographer from Munich, Germany, takes to the skies to document.”
“Three weeks on from the worst flooding in more than thirty years, parts of west Wales have again woken up to disruptions caused by a huge downpour of rain.
“Carmarthenshire Council issued a flood warning last night and warned people to expect high tides and high winds and to be mindful if they were on or near coastal paths or low lying roads and land.”
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/torrential-rain-brings-flooding-back-15381683
“Temperatures in De Bilt climbed to 19 degrees on Tuesday, making it the warmest November 6th in the Netherlands since temperature measurements started in 1901. “The previous record was 17.1 degrees in 2005. This is the 13th heat record broken this year, Weeronline reports.”
https://nltimes.nl/2018/11/07/warmest-november-6th-ever-measured-netherlands
“The drought summer still goes on in Germany. Farmers’ associations complain about a lack of aid payments, important waterways such as the Rhine report historic lows…
“The lack of rain continues to ensure in the dams of the Ruhr Association for sinking water levels – and unfamiliar sights. For example, the water level in the Bigget dam is currently almost 16 meters below the so-called full traffic jam.”
“Temperature records all over the Czech Republic fell on Tuesday, as the warmest summer on record is on its way to becoming the warmest autumn on record.
“The Moravian-Silesian province saw the warmest temperatures, with a weather station near Bohumin recording a November high of 20.6 degrees Celsius.”
http://praguemonitor.com/2018/11/07/temperature-records-continue-fall-tuesday
“The water level in Israel’s only freshwater lake fell further in November, approaching an all-time low. “The water level in the Sea of Galilee has receded to its lowest point in 17 years, hydrologists warn. In October the water level in the lake fell another 19 centimeters, and has continued to recede in November, says the Water Authority’s Hydrological Service.”
“Iraq suffered immense environmental devastation during its war with Islamic State (ISIS). Some areas, particularly Mosul and other Sunni-dominated cities, have been reduced to toxic wastelands. The problem has been compounded by the pollution of rivers, water scarcity in some quarters and flash flooding in others, leading to widespread protests. The mass death of the fish along the Euphrates River is only the latest example of the environment’s decline.”
http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/07112018
“A deadly storm system will continue to bring the risk for flooding downpours and thunderstorms to parts of the Middle East into Tuesday night.
“Before unleashing heavy rainfall across Iraq and Iran, the storm caused deadly flash flooding in Saudi Arabia over the past week. The severe weather claimed the lives of at least 14 people, according to Arab News.”
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/deadly-storm-to-batter-middle-east-into-tuesday/70006544
“Flash floods triggered by incessant rains have left at least 27 people dead and nearly six lakh others marooned in nearly two dozen districts in Bangladesh, officials said on Monday…
“The deluge has affected some 586,000 people, forcing 368,586 of them to take refuge in makeshift shelters as the country witnesses the second round of floods since June.”
“A Greater Brisbane suburb has recordest its warmest November night in 78 years of weather monitoring…
“The suburb of Amberley in Ipswich sweated through an overnight low of 23.8 degrees on Tuesday, beating the record set in 2008 by 0.1 degrees, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.”
“A large dust storm swept across western NSW yesterday afternoon…
“A few locations in western NSW have experienced their driest year-to-date in more than a century. Cobar’s 74mm of rain during the first 10 months of 2018 was its driest January to October period since 1902, towards the end of the Federation Drought.”
https://www.9news.com.au/2018/11/07/12/06/nsw-dust-storm-amazing-images-as-sand-cloud-sweeps-through
“A caravan with thousands of migrants has been making its way through Mexico after setting out three weeks ago from Honduras, which holds the distinction of being one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change. Over the past four decades, the country’s average temperature has risen, and it has borne the brunt of ever more frequent severe weather events.”
Panama City flooded out:
https://www.critica.com.pa/nacional/inundaciones-por-fuerte-lluvia-532739
“The cost of some vegetables has soared after the devastating October floods that wiped out crops.
“Following the severe flooding affecting areas of Trinidad during the period October 19-21, the National Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation said the prices of some veggies such as tomatoes, melongene, and sweet peppers have doubled as farmers’ crops were decimated.”
http://www.looptt.com/content/veggies-double-price-after-flooding
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