“North Korea is experiencing its worst drought in over a century, according to its state media, days after the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) expressed “very serious concerns” about the situation in the country.
“In the year to Wednesday, the country received just 56.3mm of rain or snow, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported on Friday, the lowest since 1917.
“Water was running out in the country’s lakes and reservoirs, said the paper.”
“Searing heat in China’s southwest is causing havoc in the world’s largest rubber futures market after forcing the nation’s top plantation owner to cease tapping.
“The heatwave scorching Yunnan province, which supplies half the country’s natural rubber production, has created hazardous working conditions and raised the risk of pests, prompting Jiangcheng Rubber Co. to stop tapping this week.”
“As torrential rain is falling across northern Taiwan, photos of the flooding have started to surface on social media…
“As of publication time, 10 CWB weather stations are reporting between 194 mm to 368 mm [14.5 inches] of rain today, including four in Taoyuan and six in Hsinchu.”
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3704123
“Each year, millions of Bangladeshis are being forced to migrate from their rural homelands to cities because of climate change related issues, according to Dhaka University’s Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit.
“These numbers are increasing. More than 10 million Bangladeshis will lose their livelihoods in the next decade, estimates Dr Huq.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/climate-change-fuelling-migration-crisis-bangladesh/
“The Asian Monsoon, which brings rains that sustain billions of people in India, China, Pakistan, Thailand and other countries, is seeing a weakening trend that’s unprecedented in at least the past 448 years, according to a new study based in part on tree ring records.
“The culprit, the study finds, is aerosol pollution from coal-fired power plants along with other sources.”
“Between July and September 2019, 2.2 million people, almost 18 percent of [Somalia’s] total population, are expected to face severe food insecurity.
“The projected food insecure caseload is 40 percent higher than the estimate at the beginning of 2019, as drought conditions are severely affecting crop and livestock production and disrupting livelihoods.
“Household resilience has been undermined by recurrent climatic shocks, overstretched social support networks and declining humanitarian assistance.”
“Flooding in Tanzania has killed five people and forced about 2,500 to flee their homes after a week of torrential rain in the country’s south, an official said Friday…
“”The damage from these floods is enormous,” Salome Magambo, the district’s administrative secretary, told AFP.”
“At least 15 people died at the start to the rainy season in Bamako, the capital of Mali, following heavy overnight rain that flooded several parts of the city on Thursday (May 16). Torrential rain started to fall at around 3 a.m. and stopped around 8 a.m. with residents waking to flooded streets, floating cars and damaged shops.
“The spokesman for the Ministry of Internal Security Amadou Sangho said the flooding had caused serious damage and rescue teams were also deployed.”
https://www.newsfirst.lk/2019/05/17/at-least-15-killed-in-mali-floods/
“Zimbabwean villagers in Muzarabani, which is situated along the Zimbabwe-Mozambique border, have sent a distress call to the government, appealing for food aid following erratic rainfall that has led to crop failure.
“More than 16,000 families need aid after villagers failed to harvest enough food.”
https://ewn.co.za/2019/05/16/zim-villagers-appeal-for-food-aid-following-erratic-rainfall
“Paraguay has been inundated by frequent heavy rains that started at the end of April and have continued into this week.
“In some locations across the country, it has rained nine out of 17 days, with some areas receiving well over 80 millimetres daily.
“The early days of heavy rain led to widespread flooding and evacuations as well as a state of emergency being declared.”
“The high temperatures reached 51 degrees this Wednesday in the state of Zulia [Venezuela], and created one of the highest thermal sensations ever recorded before.”
http://www.el-nacional.com/noticias/sociedad/ola-calor-alcanzo-los-grados-zulia_282472
“Yucatán [Mexico] is about to equal its historical record of 28 consecutive days with extreme temperatures , as a result of the intense heat wave that has prevailed since last month, caused by a persistent anticyclonic system.”
https://sipse.com/novedades-yucatan/clima-yucatan-altas-temperaturas-ola-calor-record-332809.html
“Scientists are predicting a “large to very large” Gulf of Mexico dead zone this year. It may even wind up being the largest on record.
“Experts discussed their forecast at a Thursday morning meeting of the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force, a coalition of state and federal leaders working under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.”
“Dozens of grey whales have been found dead along the U.S. West Coast in recent weeks and some scientists believe the cause lies far to the north, in the heated-up Arctic waters off Alaska.
“Dead whales examined so far have been malnourished, and the current hypothesis is the animals failed to eat enough last year in their summering grounds in the Bering and Chukchi seas off Alaska.”
“While scientists prowl the Plains in search of monster storms, others are looking at broader-scale trends that show tantalizing clues about how Tornado Alley may be shifting both geographically and temporally as the climate changes.”
“On Thursday, Omaha set a record high for the date, with the temperature peaking at 95 degrees. The previous record for May 16 was 93 degrees set in 1944 and 1939. Another warm day is on tap Friday…”
“…this record-wet year has occurred against a longer-term backdrop of climate warming and increasing precipitation.”
“Record-breaking warm temperatures a few weeks before the hunt meant organizers [Yukon, Canada] had to make several last-minute adjustments.
“First, the location of the hunt was moved because of the melting snow.
“The lack of snow also meant snowmobiles were no longer an option. Instead, the students and teachers turned to a unique mode of transportation, not typically used when hunting. They rode fat bikes.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/hunt-youth-high-school-bison-yukon-1.5135867
“This is new knowledge for us,” says Bjarte Bogstad. He is marine researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research. It is the first time that spawning cod has been registered in the waters of the North Atlantic island.
“”This can probably be connected with climate change and the warmer water,” Borstad says in a comment to the Barents Observer.”
https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/ecology/2019/05/radical-change-comes-spawning-cod-arctic-waters
“The spate of wildfires across Scotland is having a devastating impact on wildlife and the environment, conservationists and farmers have said…
“Duncan Orr-Ewing, the head of species and land management at RSPB Scotland: “This is something that has been brewing for quite some time.
“These wildfires have become very regular and with climate change there is an anticipation that we will get drier springs.””
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/spate-of-wildfires-wreaking-havoc-on-environment-s3jh7d3dp
“Footage shows how torrential rain and hail battered the town of Lavinio in Italy , causing flash flooding and stranding several drivers on Thursday.”
https://www.yenisafak.com/en/video-gallery/news/italian-town-hammered-by-heavy-rain-and-hail-2200385
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