“The lowest Arctic sea ice extent in the 40-year satellite record for this time of year was set on June 10 with just 10.901 million square kilometers of ice remaining, dipping just below the previous record set in 2016 of 10.919 million square kilometers.
“This year’s record is likely to deepen at least for the coming days.”
“In the Beaufort Sea, sea ice extent is currently at 684,000 sg/km, which is more typical of what it would be in mid-August. The longer term average for this date is 905,000 sq/km.
“The warmth is not just confined to Alaska. Much of Siberia is rapidly warming as well. Temperatures actually reached the mid-80s in northern Russia this past weekend, which is about 30-35 degrees above normal. This is not all that unusual anymore.”
“At least 60 dead ice seals have been found along the coast of the Bering and Chukchi seas in Alaska, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“The agency said NOAA Fisheries is investigating reports of “unusually large numbers” of dead ice seals in the area. Ice seals are so named because they live in the Alaskan Arctic. The species includes bearded, ringed and spotted seals.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/13/us/60-seals-dead-alaska/index.html
“Maybe 80 degrees in June doesn’t sound like cool relief. But after the scorcher expected Wednesday — when the high is predicted to hit 90 in the interior of Western Washington and 87 in the Seattle area — it may feel like a respite.
“Several places in Western Washington broke temperature records on Tuesday.”
“Heat warnings and/or advisories were in effect Tuesday for a number of major metro areas in the West, including Las Vegas, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento and San Francisco.
“In Palm Springs, California, where highs could hit 114 degrees Tuesday and Wednesday, officials warned the high temperatures could cause heat exhaustion, heat cramps or heat stroke.”
“At the beginning of the twentieth century, though, a faint fixed pattern becomes discernible among the randomness, a quiet but strengthening note against a background symphony.
“Some regions—California, the Mediterranean, Australia—dry out.
“It is a small, almost imperceptible-to-humans drying, but it is a pattern that no natural cycle can reproduce.”
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/hot-planet/creeping-toward-permanent-drought/
“As heavy rain threatens to trigger more flooding in parts of the United Kingdom into Thursday morning, some areas have already recorded double the typical June rainfall earlier this week.
Bouts of heavy rain caused areas in the central U.K. to record twice the amount of rain that typically falls each June in two days earlier this week.”
“The German capital Berlin and the country’s eastern states have been stricken by wind gusts and heavy storms Wednesday…”
https://www.thelocal.de/20190613/injuries-at-wedding-as-more-storms-hit-germany
“Parts of the province of Lecco in Lombardy [Italy] were left underwater in Italy’s latest bout of extreme weather, which came as the centre and south of the country braced itself for an early heatwave.
“Homes, farms and a campsite had to be evacuated after severe storms overnight left rivers dangerously swollen.”
https://www.thelocal.it/20190612/lake-como-homes-evacuated-amid-flash-floods-in-northern-italy
“More than 200 households in Marigat town in Baringo South [Kenya] spent the night in the cold after their houses were submerged following heavy downpour pounding the area.
“The flash floods happened after Perkerra River burst its banks causing water to flow into adjacent homes in the locality, sweeping away some of the bridges within Marigat town.”
“Torrential rains and flooding have affected thousands of people in Yemen and may escalate the spread of cholera, the United Nations warned on Wednesday.
“Nearly 70,000 people across the country, including internally displaced people, have been affected by torrential rains and flash flooding in recent weeks, culminating in widespread flooding in the second week of June…”
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-06/13/c_138138147.htm
“A city in India held a wedding ceremony for two frogs in the belief it will encourage rainfall in a country gripped by drought.
“The heatwave has killed 36 people so far, as the capital Delhi recorded its highest-ever temperature of 48C on Tuesday, while Churu in the northwestern state of Rajasthan witnessed temperatures as high as 51C.”
“India’s sugar production could fall as much as 15% in 2019/20 from the year before as severe drought hits a key growing region…
“Millions of Indians have been desperately awaiting overdue monsoon rains as they struggle to secure drinking water amid a heat wave that has been rapidly drying up reservoirs and sending temperatures soaring across the country.”
https://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL4N23K22B
“At least 49 people have died and 14 others are missing since heavy rainfall hit southern China in early June, authorities said today.
“Floods, landslides and mudslides triggered by the downpours have affected more than 4.5 million people in eight provinces.
“China’s disaster reduction committee said more than 7,000 houses have collapsed and more than 300,000 people have been evacuated as flood waters reached as high as two metres (6.5 feet) in some areas.”
“Heavy rainfall in parts of central Indonesia in early June has led to severe flooding and landslides, affecting tens of thousands of people, local authorities said on Wednesday (June 12).
“The national disaster mitigation agency said the torrential rains in the provinces of South Sulawesi, South-East Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi and East Kalimantan flooded and carried away buildings.”
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/floods-affected-tens-of-thousands-in-central-indonesia
“We looked at data from 1960 to 2010 from every high-quality weather station in the State and there is a clear pattern, with drought increasing in the south of the State [South Australia] and over the Murray-Darling Basin, which is the food bowl of Australia,” Prof Beecham says.
“The study, published in a Royal Meteorological Society journal, also indicates there has been significant long-term reductions in rainfall at the most problematic time of year, which is through autumn and winter.”
https://www.miragenews.com/south-australia-s-droughts-are-getting-worse/
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