“Tick populations now exist on every continent, even Antarctica, and Lyme disease can be found throughout most of Europe, where it ranks as the most common vector-borne disease, and beyond. “To me, there is little doubt that it is pandemic,” says Mary Beth Pfeiffer, author of Lyme: The First Epidemic of Climate Change. “It’s in China, Russia, Japan, Australia. It’s moving fast into Canada. It is all across the U.S. It calls for a huge national and concerted international effort to bring it under control.”
“The incidence of other tick-borne illnesses is also sharply rising. According to the CDC, the occurrence of those diseases in the U.S. has nearly tripled since 2004 and increased more than 22% from 2016 to 2017. In addition to Lyme, ticks transmit a slew of pathogens, including those that cause babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis, southern tick-associated rash illness, tick-borne relapsing fever, tularemia, Colorado tick fever, Q fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and Powassan encephalitis.”
“As droughts and dust storms become more common in the Southwest U.S., a fungal infection that can cause pneumonia and fatal meningitis is infecting more people than ever before.
“In recent years, infectious spores have traveled far beyond what scientists thought were the limits of the endemic.”
https://www.insider.com/dust-storms-rise-in-valley-fever-cases-further-north-2019-6
“Snow began falling above 2 100 m (7,000 feet) just west of Denver, Colorado on Friday, June 21, 2019, accumulating to nearly 51 cm (20 inches) over the weekend and boosting the state’s snowpack to extraordinary levels for the time of year…
“When we add all the snow that fell on June 21, the state’s snowpack exploded to 4,121 percent above normal.”
https://watchers.news/2019/06/24/colorado-snowpack-explodes-summer-snow-june-2019/
“Mother Nature will crank up the heat in the central United States this week! …Rocky Mountain cities such as Denver and Billings can expect hot and mainly dry conditions into the weekend with highs topping out in the 80s and 90s.”
https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/here-comes-the-summer-heat/
“Severe weather spread over Texas to Indiana on Sunday, bringing heavy rain, powerful winds, large hail and tornadoes. The system that triggered the severe storms on Sunday was the culprit behind a multi-day severe weather outbreak that began during the middle of last week across the central United States.
“On Saturday, tornadoes touched down in four states: Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas and Texas.”
“The wettest year in memory has stalled planting and stunted crops in the Midwest at a time when farmers are already struggling with low prices and a trade war with China…
“The communities they live in and the businesses that supply them with seeds, fertilizer, equipment and services are struggling as credit conditions steadily deteriorate in a fragile rural economy.”
“U.S. wheat futures climbed nearly 2% on Monday due to weather-damaged crops in key production areas around the world, while corn and soybeans firmed as wet U.S. Midwest conditions stoked concerns about reduced harvests…
“A heat wave taking hold in western Europe, dry conditions in Canada and overly wet weather in winter wheat production areas of the United States have raised the risk of yield losses…”
“For the 10th consecutive day, temperatures have either tied or broken records at various locations across the state.
“Here on Maui, a record high temperature of 94 degrees was set in Kahului on Sunday, June 23, 2019, breaking the old record of 90 degrees, set for the same day in 1980.”
https://mauinow.com/2019/06/24/10th-consecutive-day-of-record-heat-in-hawaii/
“In a study published Monday in Nature Climate Change, researchers in Brazil and the Netherlands present an analysis combining a number of scenarios for climate change and deforestation.
“They predict that by 2050 the average number of tree species found in any one part of the Amazon rain forest could decline by up to 58 percent, and that roughly one in three of the more than 6,000 species in the study could become critically endangered or go extinct.”
“A group of farmers in north-west New South Wales are offering to sell their water entitlements as an incentive to stop growing cotton…
“”The vendors are motivated to sell by the growing commentary around the degradation of the Barwon-Darling river system,” said Danny Thomas, regional director of CBRE Agribusiness.”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-06-25/cotton-farmers-offer-up-water-entitlements/11243430
“Moree [NSW, Australia] has recorded its driest January to June in nearly 120 years, and the outlook doesn’t look much better for next year, according to a retired CSIRO weather monitor.
“So far this year, only 77 millimetres of rain has fallen in Moree – the driest January to June since 1902…”
“In Darwin [NT, Australia], more used to overnight temperatures north of 20C, this morning it dropped to a mere 12.7C. Middle Point, to the east of Humpty Doo, had its coldest night on record bottoming out at only 4.8C.”
“A historic drought in Chennai, the sixth-largest city in India, is so severe that it’s now visible from space.
“The city’s 4.6 million citizens are rationing every drop of water, restaurants are closing early and companies are scaling back their operations as Chennai tries to survive a heat wave with 99 per cent less water than it had at the same time last year. The state government is shipping in water on trucks, but those trucks can’t replace the now dried-up lakes that once fed the city.”
https://globalnews.ca/news/5424366/chennai-india-drought-satellite/
“The great mountains of Pamir [Tajikistan] that have been known as the ‘Roof of the World’ over the centuries is now falling victim to climatic change.
“One of the largest glaciers here, Garmo glacier, has retreated by a staggering 7 kilometers in the past few decades with the annual mean temperatures recording an upwards trend over the past decade.”
“At least three African nations will need to import more corn this year after extreme weather from cyclones to drought devastated crops, sparking some unusual trade flows.
“Corn is a staple grain across much of sub-Saharan Africa, where it’s milled and cooked with water to form a porridge or stiff dough. Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Kenya are all expected to see imports surge this season to offset dwindling harvests.”
“Downpours across Belgrade have overwhelmed the city’s sewer system, resulting in traffic chaos in the Serbian capital…
“In central Serbia, crops were damaged by hail and many houses were flooded due to the torrential rain.”
https://www.itv.com/news/2019-06-24/belgrade-brought-to-a-standstill-by-heavy-rain/
““Data analysis shows that the normally eastward travelling summer circulation of the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes has slowed down, including the Jet Stream,” he said.
““This favours the buildup of hot and dry conditions over the continent, sometimes turning a few sunny days into dangerous heat waves.””
“Fourteen people were rescued by boat from Stirling County Rugby Club after torrential thundery downpours affected the area.
“Heavy rain led to disruption in the west of the capital across Bankhead, Clermiston and Corstorphine. Earlier Edinburgh Trams suspended some services until water had subsided from the tracks and advised passengers to use buses instead.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-48755009
“A study published in early June in the journal Earth’s Future predicted record-setting heat waves, while researchers in Australia also fear that the increase in temperature year-over-year may be “pushing ecosystems and communities beyond their ability to cope.” While earlier studies showed the globe has been on a warming trend for the last century, this new study also enforces how climate change has accelerated this warming and made it worse…
“The new research comes as several cities around the world are bracing for heatwaves, some of which are predicted to be record-setters.”
“Ecosystems in the Arctic undergo rapid, dramatic, and long-lasting changes in response to climate shifts — even those of average magnitude, according to a new study published in Environmental Research Letters.
“The study, conducted by an international research team led by members from the University of Maine, finds a “surprisingly tight coupling” between climate shifts and environmental responses in the Arctic.”
https://www.zmescience.com/science/arctic-ecosystem-climate-change-932425/
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