“Temperatures in southern Australia topped 49 degrees Celsius on Thursday (Jan 24), shattering previous records as sizzling citizens received free beer and heat-stressed bats fell from trees.
“The Bureau of Meteorology reported temperatures of 49.5 deg C north of Adelaide, while inside the city temperatures reached 47.7 deg C, breaking a record that had stood since 1939.
“Adelaide residents are used to sweltering days during the southern hemisphere summer, but even they struggled with the oppressive temperatures.
“More than 13 towns across South Australia have smashed their own heat records.”
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/australianz/south-australia-heatwave-smashes-temperature-records
“The Tasmania Fire Service is warning ember attacks and dangerous fire conditions could hit before dawn, and are urging people in the Central Highlands and south of Huonville to think about their bushfire survival plans now…
“…there are concerns a fire at Celtic Hill could threaten irreplaceable vegetation at Mount Anne, inside Tasmania’s Wilderness World Heritage Area.”
“Both Queensland and Western Australia are being warned of brewing cyclones which threaten to lash both states with wild winds and rain.
“An erratic low-pressure system sitting over far north Queensland could develop into a cyclone from Friday. The weather system is sitting over Cape York Peninsula and is expected to develop further over the next 24-48 hours, the Bureau of Meteorology says.”
“As we approach the end of January some parts of New Zealand have become very dry after a wet end to 2018 and no real rain is in sight for some regions according to WeatherWatch NZ.
“Head forecaster Philip Duncan says the series of highs streaming in from Australia look likely to continue into February with no major rain makers for the nation on the horizon at this stage.”
“Novosilski Glacier is a large tidewater outlet glacier on the west (cloudier) coast of South Georgia, terminating in Novosilski Bay.
“It shares a divide with the rapidly retreating Ross and Hindle Glacier on the east coast. Gordon et al. (2008) observed that larger tidewater and calving outlet glaciers generally remained in relatively advanced positions from the 1950’s until the 1980s. After 1980 most glaciers receded; some of these retreats have been dramatic.”
http://glacierhub.org/2019/01/23/south-georgia-islands-novosilski-glacier-is-retreating-rapidly/
“A storm will continue to bring locally heavy rain with ice at the onset in some locations and a change back to snow in other areas of the Northeast [USA] through Thursday.
“Actual temperatures are forecast to surge 30 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit from their lowest point this past Monday morning to the peak of the warmth on Thursday. When factoring in AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures from the start of the week to Thursday, it may feel 60 to 80 degrees warmer for a time, despite the rain.””
“The findings, published in the journal Global Environmental Change, showed a particular correlation between climate stresses and conflict in parts of the Middle East and North Africa from 2010–2012, when many countries were undergoing political transformation during the Arab Spring uprisings.
“Those countries included Tunisia, Libya, Yemen and Syria, which is still mired in a bloody civil war.”
“Fissures appear along roads while massive holes open up in the countryside, their gaping maws a visible sign from the air of something Iranian authorities now openly acknowledge: the area around Tehran is literally sinking.
“Stressed by a 30-year drought and hollowed by excessive water pumping, the parched landscape around Iran’s capital has begun to sink dramatically.”
“India is likely to produce 319,500 tonnes of coffee in 2018/19, down nearly 16 percent from the previous estimate, after heavy rainfall hit yields in the top two growing states, the state-run Coffee Board said on Wednesday…
“The country had been expected to harvest a record crop of 380,000 tonnes, but heavy rainfall in the southern states of Karnataka and Kerala – the top two producing states – hit plantations in July and August 2018, the board said in a statement.”
“Floods and landslides in a central Indonesian province hit by torrential rains this week have killed 30 people and left more than two dozen missing, the national disaster agency said Thursday.
“Ten districts and cities in South Sulawesi province including the capital, Makassar, have been affected by flooding that began late Tuesday, forcing more than 3,000 people to flee their homes.”
https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/01/24/19/indonesia-flood-landslide-death-toll-rises-to-30
“A rapid climate shift under way in the Barents Sea could spread to other Arctic regions, scientists warn.
“The Barents Sea is said to be at a tipping point, changing from an Arctic climate to an Atlantic climate as the water gets warmer. A conference in Norway heard that the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea – both further to the east – are likely to become the new Arctic frontier. The scientists warn that it will affect ecosystems.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46976040
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