“Floods and heavy rains across four countries have left at least 86 people dead, displaced tens of thousands, and added fresh misery to people in impoverished rural areas long suffering from drought.
Unusually heavy rains mixed with melting mountain snows and struck parched lands unable to absorb water with disastrous results in Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria…
“Millions of people need both immediate, life-saving humanitarian assistance, and a way out of this protracted crisis,” said Afghan Red Crescent Secretary-General Nilab Mobarez. “The floods are the latest disaster to bitterly test the resilience of people already stretched to breaking point by drought.”
“The devastating Nepal rainstorm, which swept the districts of Bara and Parsa, has claimed the lives of 35 people as of Tuesday, according to Province 2 Minister for Internal Affairs and Law, Gyanendra Kumar Yadav.
“”As per the statistics, 35 people are confirmed dead and hundreds of others are injured,” Yadav told the media after the conclusion of a cabinet meeting.”
“IMD released a warning of 31 March of “heat waves in many places and a severe heat wave at isolated pockets” in Madhya Pradesh till 4 April. Temperatures in most places, they added, have risen by at least 3.1°C above “normal” levels.
“The highest temperature (of 44.5°C) was recorded in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone city on 30 March.”
“Top Asian finance ministers and central bankers are due to have a summit in northern Thailand this week, and they’ll need pollution masks if they want to avoid breathing toxic air.
“Wildfires and crop burning are blanketing the region with smog, prompting Thailand’s junta leader Prayuth Chan-Ocha to fly to Chiang Mai — the area’s tourist hot-spot — early Tuesday to review the crisis. The city’s air quality index was 379 as he visited, the worst major urban reading globally and a level that’s hazardous…”
https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/wildfires-thicken-air-over-thailand-into-planet-s-most-toxic
“Townsville locals {Queensland, Australia] have resorted to couch surfing and caravans in a bid to keep a roof over their heads, as rental vacancies in the city have reached an all-time low.”
“Tasmania’s March weather was mild overall, with Dover’s 40.1 degrees in March 2 the hottest March day ever recorded in the state. That temperature was well above the previous record of 38.0 degrees, which was set at Campania in March 2008, Bureau of Meteorology Tasmania climatologist Ian Barnes-Keoghan said.”
“Dolphin survival and reproductive rates suffered a significant decline following a 2011 marine heatwave affecting around 1,000km of Western Australia’s coastline.
“The findings, published in Current Biology and representing an international collaboration of researchers and universities, including Zurich and Bristol, have important implications for marine conservation and mitigating the effects of climate change.”
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2019/april/marine-conservation.html
“A real storm hit the city of Río Tercero, Colombia. The heavy rain began on Saturday evening and continued until much of Sunday, totaling 260 millimeters [10+ inches] that flooded several areas.
“Several were cars that ended up ruined. According to testimonies of neighbors to ElDoce.tv , the water rose in a matter of minutes and did not give time to put the vehicles to guard.”
“Residents of Caracas are standing in long lines waiting to fill drums with water as a national power crisis stretches into a fourth week…
“…keeping vital pumps from reservoirs off line and exacerbating a deepening shortage in the Venezuelan capital amid a drought.”
“A wall of rocks and sandbags on Monday protected scenic Clarksville, Missouri, from the surging Mississippi River as spring flooding swamped fields, threatened homes and temporarily shut down a bridge connecting Missouri and Illinois.
“Heavy rain over much of the Midwest on Saturday caused another spike in water levels along the river and its tributaries, especially in Iowa, Missouri and Illinois.”
“Federal scientists and academics are warning that Canada’s climate is warming rapidly and faster than the global average, saying human behaviour must change to slow the shift…
“The report says that Canada is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world and that Northern Canada is warming even more quickly, nearly three times the global rate. Three of the past five years have been the warmest on record…”
“On Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, the temperature has increased by 5.6°C in the last 50 years. “That the temperature in Denmark has increased by 1.2 degrees in just the last 20 years is concerning.
“It makes you fear that climate change is only just beginning to really be felt. So what will happen over the next 20 years?”, TV2 meteorologist Peter Tanev said to the broadcaster.”
https://www.thelocal.dk/20190402/denmark-amongst-countries-with-highest-temperature-increase
“Tourists were left fleeing a huge wave after part of a glacier broke off and collapsed into the sea in Iceland.
“The groups had been admiring the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier in Vatnajökull National Park when a loud cracking sound could suddenly be heard.”
“Climate change is shifting spring forward in the UK and disrupt the life cycles of eco-systems, a 50 year study has confirmed.
“Aphids, moths and butterflies are now flying and birds are laying eggs much earlier than in the mid-20th century, according to researchers. This means that butterflies are hatching earlier and birds are laying their eggs sooner than in 1967.”
“The south of Spain has witnessed some amazing scenes as freak weather hit the region this afternoon (Monday).
“Comarcal Televisión in the Valle del Guadalentín, with coverage in Lorca, Águilas, Puerto Lumbreras and Mazarrón has shared footage that shows a white-out after a hail storm hit the region.”
https://www.euroweeklynews.com/2019/04/01/watch-freak-hail-storm-hits-south-of-spain/#.XKNAlZhKjIU
“Commercial banks in South Africa face enormous credit risks due to agricultural producers defaulting on loans and being increasingly unable to provide security for loans.
“This was underscored by the fact that 61% of the approximately R160 billion in farming debt in South Africa was owed to commercial banks, said Prof Sanlie Middelberg of North-West University’s School of Accounting Sciences in Potchefstroom. She told Farmer’s Weekly that many farmers were unable to repay their loans due to failed harvests, ever-increasing input costs, and low livestock prices.”
“Flooding linked to Cyclone Idai, which lashed southeast Africa last month, could reduce Malawi’s staple maize crop by around 20 percent this farming season, Agriculture Minister Joseph Mwanamvekha said on Tuesday. “The floods washed away 71,111 hectares, translating into about 639,999 metric tonnes of potential maize production in five agricultural development divisions, effectively reducing our projected yield for this year,” Mwanamvekha told Reuters.”
https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKCN1RE0NK-OZATP
“Cholera has infected at least 1,052 people in Mozambique’s cyclone-hit region, the health ministry said on Monday in a new report, marking a massive increase from 139 cases reported four days ago.
“The new data represents on average more than 200 cases of new infections each day.”
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