“Nordic countries are experiencing searing temperatures as Europe’s record-breaking heatwave moves north, with Norway on Saturday equalling its 1970 record, and many areas recording ‘tropical nights’.
“Laksfors in northern Norway on Saturday recorded a temperature of 96F (35.6C), equalling the national record set in Nesbyen (a very long way to the south) in 1970, the country’s meteorology service said on Twitter.
“The Norwegian Meteorological Institute also said it had recorded ‘tropical nights’ in 20 different locations in southern Norway, meaning that temperatures stayed above 20 degrees throughout the night.
“The tropical heat was also felt around other parts of the Nordics and in neighbouring Sweden, with most extreme heat in the country’s far north.”
““What these heat waves do is help propagate any ongoing drought conditions that started earlier this month, this summer or even earlier which in turn yields to a higher threat for wildfires,” Roys said.
“According to Roys, this is the second straight year in which drought conditions have become a problem across western Europe.”
“Last week’s conditions were described as “weather on steroids” by Dr Karsten Haustein, of Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute.
““The UK could have reached 40C [104f] last week, but cloud cover during the afternoon prevented it. What this short but intense episode has shown is that the potential for 40C is there.”
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jul/28/uk-temperatures-may-hit-40c-robin-mckie
“A mini-tornado killed a woman motorist near Rome’s Fiumicino airport… Italy’s main agricultural body, Coldiretti, said orchards, whole fields of tobacco, sunflowers and maize as well as greenhouses had been wrecked, leaving losses worth millions of euros.
“Austria’s APA news agency, citing hail insurers, said airborne ice clumps as big as tennis balls pummeled the provinces of Styria, Carinthia and Burgenland.”
https://www.dw.com/en/europe-lashed-by-hail-fatal-storms/a-49778989
“Today is arguably the craziest day of weather in this crazy summer of 2019 [Croatia]. We went to bed with firefighters battling a huge fire near Sibenik which temporarily closed to main A1 motorway from Zagreb to Split. We awoke to 50 firefighters another huge fire near Zarace on Hvar, as 50 firefighters battles the blaze successfully.
“Rain came to assist the heroic Sibenik fighters, and the situation is now under control. But that rain continued. And how. You can see more of the crazy weather in our earlier roundup, including three waterspouts on Krk and fallen trees in Split.”
https://www.total-croatia-news.com/travel/37455-stradun-floods
“A year after Greece’s deadliest wildfire tore through coastal towns near Athens, killing 102 people, the road to normality for survivors is long and scarred by scorched homes and barren land.
“The resort of Mati, a wooded area overlooking sparkling sea east of the capital, was popular with children at summer camps. On the first anniversary of the disaster, it resembles a ghost town.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/29/greece-deadly-wildfires-then-and-now
“Yemeni officials say at least six people were killed when floods swept through much of the country’s south following heavy rainfall.
“The officials said Saturday that at least three people are still missing in the Abyan and Shabwa provinces hit by heavy rains over the past 24 hours.”
https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/yemen/heavy-flooding-in-south-yemen-kills-6-1.65480972
“The average rainfall for every region of India is deficient, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Measuring from June 1, the overall deficit is 16 percent.
“Maybe more tellingly, 56 percent of the land area of India is short of the expected fall for this point in an “average” season.”
“Persistently dry weather in parts of Asia and Oceania has caused the most severe droughts in years, raising fears of economic and social impacts on the regions’ communities.
“Thailand is now facing reduced production — and therefore exports — of rice, and Australia, usually an exporter of wheat, is rushing to import the commodity.”
https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Droughts-hit-Thailand-and-India-risking-stress-on-food-supplies
“The [Indonesian] government would need to seriously address the threat posed by drought as it could lead to the risk of crop failures and furthermore affect food prices, a researcher at he Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS) Galuh Octania said…
“Hence, she said, the government must be aware of the possibility of soaring food prices.”
https://en.antaranews.com/news/129888/drought-threats-may-affect-food-prices-researcher
“Central America remains one of the world’s most dangerous regions outside a warzone, where a toxic mix of violence, poverty and corruption has forced millions to flee their homes and head north in search of security.
“But amid a deepening global climate crisis, drought, famine and the battle for dwindling natural resources are increasingly being recognized as major factors in the exodus.”
“Valley temperatures [California] are only going to get hotter, expected to peak at 108 degrees Sunday, then drop to a high of around 104 in some places Monday. Temperatures in Fresno on Saturday rose to 104 degrees as of 4 p.m., the National Weather Service reported. Fresno area temperatures Sunday won’t be far from a 110-degree record high for July 28, set in 1980.”
https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article233216496.html
“A forest ranger from the Police Benevolent Association of New York States took aerial video showing the scale of destruction from Alaska’s wildfires in 2019.”
“A number of local residents reported “haze hanging over the city”. Some complained that in addition to the unpleasant smell of burning they has itchy throat. “I do not know whether this is due to smog or just the heat, but the street is really very stuffy, there is not enough oxygen.
“Every time you inhale so that you are like standing near the fire, and it is impossible to move away from the ‘fire’ because such air is everywhere,” the citizen of Naberezhnye Chelny [Siberia] says.”
“Residents of Tulun in Russia’s Far Eastern Irkutsk region are being evacuated as new flash floods are feared, the regional department of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations reports.
“”Emergencies ministry’s specialists, police as well as the administration of municipalities are warning and evacuating residents of the areas that are at risk of flooding,” it said.”
https://tass.com/emergencies/1070737
“Extreme global temperatures are pushing the human body “close to thermal limits”, according to a climate scientist. Record-breaking heat has swept through Europe this week with temperatures topping 40C in a number of countries. However, in places such as South Asia and the Persian Gulf, people are already enduring temperatures reaching up to 54C.
“Despite all the body’s thermal efficiencies, these areas could soon be uninhabitable…”
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