“Cyclone ‘Fani’ is likely to intensify into an ‘extremely severe cyclonic storm’ by late night and can hit the Odisha coast by Friday afternoon, the India Meteorological Department said Tuesday.
“In its 12 pm bulletin, the Cyclone Warning Division of the IMD said Fani (pronounced as Foni) lays over southeast and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal, about 830 km nearly south of Puri (Odisha) and 670 km south-southeast of Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and about 680 km northeast of Trincomalee (Sri Lanka).
“It is very likely to intensify further into an extremely severe cyclonic storm during the next 12 hours. It is very likely to move northwestwards till May 1 evening and thereafter recurve north-northeastwards and reach Odisha coast by May 3 afternoon with maximum sustained wind of speed 170-180 kilometers per hour gusting to 200 kmph [124mph],” the IMD said.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/cyclone-fani-likely-to-intensify-into-extremely-severe-cyclonic-storm-in-next-12-hrs/articleshow/69111342.cms
“Since March, Iran has been ravaged by record rainfall and unprecedented flash flooding. At least 26 of 31 provinces have been impacted by the deadly floods.
“One city received 70% of its annual rainfall in a single day. Dozens of people have died… Pictures and videos posted on social media show total destruction.”
https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-04-29/unprecedented-floods-iran-have-brought-people-together
“Flash floods have wreaked havoc in Partimaro village in Kajiado Central, Kajiado County [Kenya].
“A motor vehicle has been swept away and bridges cut off paralyzing transport in the area.
“Effects of rains in the wake of a long dry spell are being felt in many parts of the vast Kajiado County.”
https://www.kbc.co.ke/flash-floods-wreak-havoc-in-kajiado-county/
“The number of known fatalities rose to 38 in Mozambique on Monday as areas slowly began to assess damage from Cyclone Kenneth. As feared… serious flooding has unfolded in recent days… Floodwaters are waist high in parts of Pemba, and homes have collapsed… Nearly 700,000 people may have been impacted… More than 35,000 homes in northernmost Cabo Delgado were partially or fully destroyed by Kenneth.
“Kenneth is the first tropical cyclone with the equivalent of hurricane strength to strike Mozambique’s northern province of Cabo Delgado since modern record-keeping began 60 years ago.”
“After a record-breaking monsoon season and being affected by both Cyclone Penny and Trevor, the Peninsula Development Rd [Queensland, Australia] is now open and in generally good condition.”
“The wet tropics world heritage area in north Queensland has been damaged by climate change in a manner “equivalent” to coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, the area’s management authority has said. In an extraordinary statement issued on Monday, the authority’s board said the tropical rainforest was in “accelerating decline” and that some of the area’s unique species were at imminent risk of extinction.
“Last summer was the hottest on record.”
“Large numbers of inhabitants are still evacuated in Chaco [Argentina] and the losses are already incalculable.
“Although the climatic conditions improved, the situation continues to be critical. Against this background, the Government reinforced the assistance for those affected. The constant rain that fell in the province left houses flooded and affected near a million hectares of land.”
“…we are observing in the [Panama] canal area that climatic events are becoming increasingly extreme. …
“The biggest droughts and the eight or nine largest storms have occurred in the last 20 years, in the same way that 2014 to 2016 were the driest years in the canal’s history.”
https://www.wral.com/drought-hits-panama-canal-shipping-highlights-climate-fears/18355919/
“The Directorate of Civil Protection of Haiti today reiterated the national alert on floods and landslides throughout the national territory…
“They also pointed out that the rainy season, scheduled to begin next Wednesday, should be intense, taking into account the considerable damage of recent rainfall, especially in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, and other cities in Haiti.”
“…the Mississippi… is now predicted to crest at 22.2 feet on Wednesday, May
“…The current river level is 21.2 feet, the 6th highest level on record.”
““This year’s flooding is very extreme,” said Ursule Boyer-Villemaire, an associate professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal who specializes in disaster management and climate resilience planning. Climate change means that catastrophic flooding will only become more common…
“The fact that two so-called “hundred-year floods” occurred so close together has climate preparedness experts concerned.”
“Seventy years ago, Alaska’s Excelsior Glacier stretched its cold fingers from a vast plain in the state’s southern edge nearly all the way to the North Pacific Ocean. Now, the glacier is separated from the sea by a meltwater lake more than five times the size of New York City’s Central Park.
“In a recent blog post on the American Geophysical Union (AGU) website, glaciologist Mauri Pelto of Nichols College in Massachusetts shows how that relatively new lake — now called Big Johnstone Lake — has more than doubled in size over the last 24 years.”
https://www.livescience.com/65355-excelsior-glacier-is-melting.html
“Thousands of starfish have been washed ashore in a “sea of orange” after they were ripped from reefs by Storm Hannah. Hayley Jenkins, 34, spotted the mass of starfish on a Talacre beach, near her home in Flintshire, on Sunday.
“Storm Hannah brought winds of up to 80mph to parts of Wales last week and saw power cuts and major routes affected.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-48097770
“Rising temperatures are hitting Britain and some cities are now far warmer than they were in the 20th century, reveals a study of historical weather records across the UK.
“As a result, many parts of the UK have already exceeded the 2.9°F (1.6°C) target cap for temperature increases laid out in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.”
“April 2019 is the 13th consecutive month with warmer than average weather in Germany, a record since measurements began in 1881, Germany’s National Meteorological Service (DWD) says in a press release.
““We’re witnessing climate change live,” said DWD president Gerhard Adrian. At 9.6 degrees Celsius in April, the temperature average was 2.2 degrees above the internationally agreed reference period of 1961 to 1990, said DWD.”
https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/13-consecutive-months-record-high-temperatures-germany
“Record-breaking heatwaves and droughts in 2018 and recent years were connected to a newly identified pattern of the jet stream that encircles the Earth, according to a study by scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), the German institute announced on Monday.”
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-04/29/c_138022403.htm
“Part of the world’s largest ice shelf is melting 10 times faster than expected due to the sea warming around it, research shows.
“The Ross Ice Shelf, a floating slab of Antarctic ice the size of France which juts into the ocean, is more vulnerable to global warming than previously thought.”
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