“The bustling boat traffic on Europe’s Rhine river ground to a halt for the first time in living memory last year, as shrinking alpine glaciers and severe drought made the key transport artery impassable. Those historic conditions could be repeated in a few weeks.
“With little rainfall recently, water levels at Kaub — a critical chokepoint near Frankfurt — dropped to about 150 centimeters (59 inches), half the depth from just a month ago. Movements of the heaviest barges are already restricted, and all river cargo could again cease if the level falls below 50 centimeters.”
“This week could see the UK’s all-time record temperature broken, with highs of above 36C forecast. In central and eastern parts of England, heatwave thresholds are expected to be met as high temperatures last throughout the middle part of this week.”
“France and Spain will face “extreme danger” from fires due to another scorching heatwave across western Europe this week, according to EU experts monitoring forest fires…
“Meanwhile, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands could see record temperatures this week with highs of 39C predicted across the three countries.”
“Villagers of Cheveira in central Portugal complained not enough was being done to battle flames as wildfires continued to rage on Monday (July 22)”.
Video:
“Heavy rains in New York City wreaked havoc on rush-hour commutes Monday evening
“…and caused major flooding on roads, including some streets in Brooklyn where the water reached knee-high levels and partially submerged cars, city officials said.”
“Researchers analyzed a continuous record kept since 1898 of tropical cyclone landfalls and rainfall associated with Coastal North Carolina storms.
“They found that six of the seven highest precipitation events in that record have occurred within the last 20 years, according to the study.”
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/uonc-ncc072219.php
“The dangerous heat wave responsible for breaking more than 100 heat records across the U.S. since Thursday is finally in the process of diminishing. But perhaps the most stunning of all the records challenged in recent days were the humidity levels in the Upper Midwest…
“Late Friday parts of Central Wisconsin, near the Wisconsin River, may have experienced dew point numbers into the middle 80s to near 90, pushing the “feels like” temperatures over 130 degrees.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/corn-sweat-makes-heat-wave-more-dangerous/
“Record-high temperatures occurring twice as frequently as record lows directly reflects our climate crisis, as you would expect increasing the average temperature to increase the number of extreme highs, while extreme cold happens less frequently…
“Current projections place that ratio as high as 20-to-1 by 2050 and 50-to-1 by the end of the century.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/22/us/climate-change-record-highs-outpace-lows/index.html
“Experiencing a summer heat wave with temperatures in the nineties is probably pretty normal for most people. But now imagine you live in Alaska. Not so normal anymore, is it?
“Alaska has just come to the end of a period of warmth that re-wrote the record books for multiple cities and communities across the state.
“And crazy enough, it was one of several jaw dropping climate events taking place across our largest state.”
“The worst drought in 60 years has been ongoing in Chile since 2007, according to Al Jazeera, but scientists are now saying it may be permanent.
“By the year 2030, Chile’s capital, Santiago, and other regions are estimated to see increased temperatures with some left without drinking water indefinitely.”
https://psuvanguard.com/experts-say-60-year-long-chilean-drought-could-be-permanent/
“There could hardly be a starker sign of just how topsy-turvy the winter weather is in parts of Australia. This morning, the Bureau of Meteorology issued a warning for bushfires in parts of New South Wales with July temperatures set to come close to the hottest ever.
““As bizarre as it sounds midwinter — parts of NSW are likely to see elevated bushfire risk today,” the BOM tweeted this morning.”
“Taipei’s Da’an Forest Park saw a record amount of rainfall within a half-hour on Monday afternoon as thunderstorms drenched the city.
“The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said that thunderstorms began to appear in Taipei around 3 p.m. on Monday afternoon (July 22). From 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. the rainfall in Da’an Forest Park reached 116 mm [4.56 inches], and from 3:10 p.m. to 4:10 p.m. the accumulation was even greater at 136 mm.”
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3749996
“Tropical cyclones followed quickly by deadly heatwaves will be a growing threat as global temperatures continue to rise to a dangerous level for human beings, according to climate scientists in Ireland and the UK. The scientists say their research should act as a “stark warning”.”
“More than 300 people have died and millions more have been displaced after severe flooding hit parts of India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
“The death toll in the region more than doubled in the last five days…”
“A field survey conducted by the state agriculture department revealed that July 16 downpour and resultant waterlogging has damaged 90,563 acres of crops — mainly paddy and cotton — across five districts of Punjab [India]. Bathinda is the worst affected district, bearing 31.5% of the total damage.”
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/punjab-single-days-rain-ruins-crops-in-90500-acres-5843683/
“In Sanyuan district of Sanming city [China], as much as 150mm [nearly six inches] fell between 6pm and 9pm local time. The local meteorological department has issued a red alert for heavy rain even as the downpours caused widespread flooding in the city.
“At Xinshibei Road, the main street in Sanming city, about 300 metres of the road was underwater.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/07/deadly-floods-hit-south-east-china-190722090237666.html
“A southeast Siberian region recovering from weeks of deadly flooding has been hit by another plague: venomous vipers. Twenty-five people have died and seven people remain unaccounted for…
“Vipers were spotted almost immediately afterward and officials had warned residents to exercise caution outdoors…
“a man in the central Russian region of Chelyabinsk has reportedly died from a snakebite while waiting for doctors to deliver the anti-venom medicine.”
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/07/22/venomous-vipers-infest-flood-struck-siberian-region-a66511
“Nearly 170,000 hectares of forestland is burning in the Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Yakutia, Yamal, and Buryatia regions, TASS reported, citing the Aerial Forest Protection Service. The hygienic standard in the air exceeds the norm by 1.2 to 2.3 times, The Siberian Times reported, citing state-run consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor.”
https://www.rferl.org/a/wildfires-engulf-siberia-choke-cities/30070358.html
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