“Iraqi authorities on Sunday declared a state of emergency after flash flooding and torrential rainfall battered Nineveh, further exacerbating the plight of the war-torn province.
“In a statement, the provincial government urged “residents to stay away from the valley corridor as rescue teams are trying to take people out of the flooded areas”.
“Rainfall swept through several districts inside Nineveh’s capital Mosul, as well as the south of the province, where eyewitnesses said the water level had risen to seven meters in Gassab Valley…
“Last month, …floods killed dozens of people and displaced tens of thousands, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.”
https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/iraq-s-nineveh-province-declares-state-of-emergency-following-flash-flooding-1.798252
“Meteorologists in Saudi Arabia have issued a red warning for heavy rain in Madinah province…
“Heavy rain has caused flooding across the Kingdom in recent weeks with a number of fatalities and disruption for transport. The General Authority of Meteorology and Environmental Protection said Friday further torrential rain was forecast for several regions of the Kingdom.”
https://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay.aspx?newsID=542266
“Photojournalist Mário Macilau has produced a black-and-white series on the people of Namaacha and Changalane, near Maputo, in Mozambique.
“Macilau believes climate change has had a negative impact on the lives of the people of Mozambique… Here are some of Macilau’s pictures, commissioned by WaterAid, with accounts from the people he has photographed:”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-46385367
“Cotton yield in India is likely to decline this year to hit a three-year low due to crop damage following drought in its major growing states including Gujarat in Maharasthra, the two states jointly contributing half of India’s cotton output….
“Deficient and erratic southwest monsoon followed by a long dry spell this winter season has impacted the standing crop. “
“As Perth sweltered through its hottest day in nearly nine months, residents in the Wheatbelt were taking cover as hailstorms lashed the region.
“Perth reached its maximum temperature of 37.8C just after 1pm – the hottest day since March 21 and a touch above the 36C forecasters had predicted. Meanwhile, a severe hailstorm left parts of the Wheatbelt looking like a winter wonderland.”
https://thewest.com.au/news/weather/hail-blankets-wheatbelt-as-perth-sweats-in-37c-ng-b881039514z
“Destructive winds, large hail and heavy rainfall are set to hit central Queensland, with no relief for those experiencing the heatwave, as the Bureau of Meterology warns the weather might make fire conditions worse. BOM warned severe storms would make their way to the area around Rockhampton, Gladstone, Bundaberg and Biloela on Monday as a south-easterly change and upper trough moved into Queensland.”
“The wait for El Nino continues, but scientists are already gearing up for its impacts.
“Chief among those is how it warms the planet as a whole. In this age of climate change, 2019 is already shaping up to be an extremely hot year, but El Nino could give it a little boost.”
https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2018/12/the-looming-elniois-upping-odds-of-record-heat-in-2019/
“Wildfires in California in 2018 released the rough equivalent of about 68 million tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide — about the same amount of carbon emissions as are produced in a year to provide electricity to the state, U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said Friday. The carbon dioxide figure — based on data analyzed by the U.S. Geological Survey — is more than 15 percent of all emissions produced by California in a year…”
“A series of tornadoes stirred up damage from the Plains to southeast Georgia over the weekend. A swarm of tornadoes rocked central Illinois on Saturday, making it one of the most violent December days in the state’s history.
“There were over 20 preliminary tornado reports, according to the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center.”
“In Utah… summer temperatures are sizzling – the nighttime lows are getting higher, and the state continues to struggle with the impacts of protracted drought.
“”We are continually seeing these heat records broken,” McInerney said. “Three summers ago, we had 21 straight days with temperatures of 95 degrees or above.”
“Saturday’s rain made for a record-setting day in Lexington, Kentucky. Now 2018 has become the wettest year in Lexington history.
“So far, 66.97 inches of rain have fallen in 2018, as of 8 p.m. Saturday, surpassing rainfall totals in 2011 to break the record.”
https://lex18.com/news/2018/12/02/2018-rainfall-breaks-record-for-wettest-year-in-lexington/
“It was drier and warmer across South Florida this fall, but West Palm Beach felt it a little more than the rest of us, with its driest fall since record-keeping began in 1888, according to the National Weather Service in Miami.”
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/fl-ne-wpb-driest-fall-2018-story.html
“Atlantic City International Airport, southeastern New Jersey’s official climate station, had a high temperature of 64 degrees Sunday, tying the previous record.”
“The herring in the waters off the German port city of Kiel – both a symbol of the seaside region and a staple food that locals eat salted, pickled or fried – have plummeted to about a third of their population in the 1990s.
“Cod have declined drastically, too. And they are getting smaller and thinner.”
“The UN climate change summit begins on Monday with a warning that today’s generation is the last that can prevent catastrophic global warming, as well as the first to be suffering its impacts.
“Almost 200 nations were set to meet in Poland for two weeks, aiming to hammer out a vital agreement to turn the carbon-cutting vision set in Paris in 2015 into reality. Moves to rapidly ramp up action would be another key goal, with current pledges leaving the world on track for a disastrous 3C of warming.”
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