“Over the weekend, the climate system sounded simultaneous alarms. Near the entrance to the Arctic Ocean in northwest Russia, the temperature surged to 84 degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere eclipsed 415 parts per million for the first time in human history.
“By themselves, these are just data points. But taken together with so many indicators of an altered atmosphere and rising temperatures, they blend into the unmistakable portrait of human-induced climate change.
“Saturday’s steamy 84-degree reading was posted in Arkhangelsk, Russia, where the average high temperature is around 54 this time of year. The city of 350,000 people sits next to the White Sea, which feeds into the Arctic Ocean’s Barents Sea.
“In Koynas, a rural area to the east of Arkhangelsk, it was even hotter on Sunday, soaring to 87 degrees. Many locations in Russia, from the Kazakhstan border to the White Sea, set record-high temperatures over the weekend, some 30 to 40 degrees above average.”
https://www.pressherald.com/2019/05/14/it-was-84-degrees-near-the-arctic-ocean-this-weekend-as-carbon-dioxide-hit-its-highest-level-in-human-history/
“Kinlochewe in Wester Ross [Scotland] recorded the UK’s highest temperate of the day, at 23.7 degrees.
“It was accompanied by 23.3 degree readings in both Aviemore and Drumnadrochit, while in Auchengatt in Aberdeenshire, temperatures touched 23.1 degrees, the fourth highest recorded…
“Marco Petagna, from the Met Office, said: “Usually we would record the highest temperatures in the south of the country…””
“France is already preparing for the threat of drought this summer, with 11 departments having already taken water restriction measures…
“At surface level, the earth appears to be damp and vegetation is flourishing. Yet, on a deeper level – under the ground, which is sometimes referred to as the “water table” or “groundwater” – there is not enough.”
“If you’re in Dalmatia and have said this is the “coldest May of your life”, you’re absolutely right – and thanks to official data measured at the DHMZ Split Marjan station, your claim can be confirmed.
“Namely, Dalmacija Danas reports that the first 13 days of May had an average air temperature of 14.6°C, while the average from 1948 to 2018 was 19.1°C. At the moment, we are experiencing temperatures in Dalmatia 4.5°C cooler than the monthly average, which is an extreme temperature deviation.”
https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/35891-dalmatia
“Due to the severity of the drought conditions in the capital city Windhoek [Namibia], the municipality on Monday announced that it will commence with water restrictions which will come into effect as from July 1…
““A severe water scarcity condition is therefore declared, and subsequently water restrictions must be implemented accordingly,” the city furthers said.”
https://www.newsghana.com.gh/namibias-capital-city-to-enforce-water-restrictions-amid-drought/
“With the effects of drought beginning to tell on cities in western Maharashtra [India], the State irrigation department has decided to stall the release of water from Khadakwasla dam to meet Pune’s potable water demands.
“With the cumulative water stocks in the four major dams constituting the city’s potable water lifeline — Khadakwasla, Panshet, Varasgaon and Temghar – down to an alarming 4.75 tmc (thousand million cubic feet), the department is left with no choice but to stop water for crops and irrigation in the district’s outlying areas.”
“A statement issued by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority [India] on Tuesday said 10 people died due to storms while lightning killed 13 others.
“It said five districts — Golaghat, Sivasagar, Dhubri, Sonitpur and Cachar were mostly affected…”
“Strong wind, coupled with torrential rain, has destroyed some 800 houses in two townships of Myanmar’s Sagaing region, according to the Disaster Management Department Wednesday.
“The two townships, struck by the disaster on Monday evening, are Pale and Kani townships, of which Kani was worst affected with 780 house being destroyed. Some villages were battered by hailstones.”
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-05/15/c_138059841.htm
“Officials from North Korea’s Red Cross Society are in China this week, a sign the Kim Jong Un regime could be preparing to request food aid from the world’s second-largest economy.
“Pyongyang’s state-controlled news agency KCNA reported the group left for China on Tuesday.”
“Australia is planning to import wheat for the first time in 12 years after drought across the eastern states saw grain production fall 20% last year.
“The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources confirmed this week it had issued a bulk import permit to allow wheat to be brought in from Canada to be processed for the domestic market.”
“To date, three children and two adults died after not receiving assistance in the Chaco because they were isolated because of the floods…
“…after the flood of the Paraguay River and the record rainfall.
“Four of the deaths were registered in the Presidente Hayes Department and one in Alto Paraguay.”
https://www.ultimahora.com/inundaciones-el-chaco-dejan-5-fallecidos-falta-asistencia-n2819363.html
“Puerto Rico currently experiences the strongest heat wave in history… In statements the meteorologist Emanuel Rodriguez explained that the island “has a high pressure, dominating the environment and a mass of dry air.”
“Adding further that “On the north coast the heat index will be above 100 degrees.””
http://eltiempolatino.com/news/2019/may/14/se-elevan-aun-mas-las-temperaturas-en-puerto-rico/
“The direction of Ecology confirmed this through a statement, which details that the heat wave that plagues this state [San Luis Potosi, Mexico]
“…has caused species such as “pigeons and “huastecos” to die because of the high temperatures and the fires that have arisen in the state in recent days.”
https://www.sopitas.com/noticias/por-ola-de-calor-aves-mueren-en-san-luis-potosi/
“Mexico City has declared a pollution emergency after smoke from brushfires cast a pall over the city of 21 million people.
“The alert over high levels of soot particles led to the postponement of a semifinal match in the Mexican football league and a baseball game in the capital.
“City officials suspended activities that raise dust, like street sweeping and movement of construction materials.”
“A storm system barreling down on the Central Coast [California] is expected to drop between 1 and 2 inches of rain from Wednesday into Thursday — and it’s the first in a storm series that could break the area’s May rainfall record. “It could be one of the heaviest May rainfalls we’ve seen if it (the forecast) verifies, which I think it might,” PG&E meteorologist John Lindsey said of Wednesday’s storm.”
https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/weather-news/article230380569.html
“An 800,000-square-mile swath of the central United States will be at risk for rounds of severe thunderstorms, including the potential for tornadoes, starting late this week and continuing well into next week.”
“Hard, steady rainfall in February drenched the valley and has catapulted the year toward the record books.
“The Tennessee River is already at peak summer levels normally not seen until the beginning of June.
“In Chattanooga — which saw 9.7 inches of rain in February — the river reached a designated flood level of 30 feet, or about twice its normal depth.”
https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2019/may/14/record-rainfall/494650/
“Two months after record floods swept down the Missouri River, closed bridges are still making life hard for people like Mary Grace Thiltges.
“Ms. Thiltges’s 70-minute round-trip commute from her home in Rulo, Neb., to Oregon, Mo., where she teaches middle-school English, nearly tripled.
“So the 57-year-old is renting a place in Oregon and heads home to see her husband only on weekends.”
“A historic tree that predates the dedication of the Washington Monument toppled outside of the iconic structure this weekend… The National Park Service said Monday that the saturated ground caused the mulberry tree on the grounds of the Washington Monument to topple…
“The fall comes after heavy weekend rainfall in D.C. The past year, 2018, also was the wettest year on record in the nation’s capital, with 66.28 inches of year.”
https://wjla.com/news/local/historic-tree-predates-dedication-washington-monument-topples
“… the all-time low high temperature of 49 F for May 13, set way back in 1914, was shattered on Monday when the mercury in Central Park only climbed to 48 F. Temperatures on Monday in the Big Apple were about 15-20 degrees below average…
“Meanwhile, some residents in the northernmost states woke up to find a blanket of snow outside their windows on Tuesday morning.
“Areas in upstate New York, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine received several inches of snow.”
“Early summer heatwaves in Western Europe and North America set new temperature records in 2018, while other regions of the northern hemisphere were hit with torrential rain and severe flooding.
“Now researchers in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands say that these events were linked by a pattern of stalled waves in the jet stream.
“They add that this wave pattern appears to have increased in frequency and persistence in recent years and may occur more frequently in the future due to climate change.”
https://physicsworld.com/a/summer-weather-extremes-linked-to-stalled-rossby-waves-in-the-jet-stream/
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