“Gigantic forest fires have regularly raged through the vast expanses of Russia’s Siberia, but the magnitude of this year’s blazes has reached an exceptional level with fears of a long-term impact on the environment.
“As fires sweep across millions of hectares enveloping entire cities in black smoke and noxious fumes, environmentalists warn of a disaster threatening to accelerate the melting of the Arctic.
“More than 3.2 million hectares (7.9 million acres) were in the grip of fires on Monday, mainly in the vast regions of Yakutia in the north and Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk in Siberia, authorities said.”
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-siberia-forest-potential-disaster-arctic.html
“The alert concerns flooding in Baikalsk – where evacuation has begun – and concerns that toxic mudflows can dump poisonous sludge from a former pulp and paper mill into the lake’s pristine waters.
“Pools of liquid sludge containing lignin poses a huge threat to the life in Baikal with warnings of an ‘ecological catastrophe’.”
“Record temperatures for the summer in Iceland measured the second day in a row yesterday, when the daytime high reached 26.9° C (80.4° F) at Hjarðarland in Biskupstungur, South Iceland…
“…and 26.7° C (80° F) by Gullfoss waterfall.”
https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/news/2019/07/30/thunderstorm_and_record_temperatures_in_iceland/
“The highest temperature ever recorded in the UK – 38.7C – has been confirmed by the Met Office. The measurement, taken at Cambridge Botanic Garden last Thursday, was subject to quality control and analysis by meteorologists over the weekend.”
“Thousands of chickens died in last week’s heatwave at a Red Tractor-endorsed farm that supplies major supermarkets including Tesco and Sainsbury’s…
“Critics said the chickens would have suffered terribly before dying.”
“…international community has been urged to intervene and curb a recurrence of hunger that killed 260 000 people in East Africa in 2011. More than 15 million people are in need of aid as drought hits parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia again.
“An international agency accused the international community of complacency and failure towards ensuring that a catastrophe that occurred eight years ago did not happen.”
https://allafrica.com/stories/201907290585.html
“Glaciers as old as 20,000 years on Turkey’s second highest peak have begun to melt faster, worrying environmentalists.
“The Cilo-Sat Mountains are the eastern extension of the Taurus mountain range that runs east to west along Turkey’s Mediterranean coast and southern border.”
“PESHAWAR: At least 10 people died while 29 others were injured during the five days of torrential rains in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P)…
“…stated a report released on Monday by the provincial disaster management body on the devastation wrought by the monsoon rains. Meanwhile, fresh flooding and torrential rains have washed away roads and bridges in different parts of the province.”
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2024166/1-10-killed-29-injured-five-days-torrential-rains/
“At least 127 people were killed and an astounding eight million displaced after rivers in Nepal burst their banks in the latest monsoons and swept through villages in the eastern Indian state of Bihar…
““Millions have been badly hit after the flood situation worsened over the past week,” said Bishop Cajetan Francis Osta of Muzaffarpur, the worst affected area.”
https://www.ucanews.com/news/state-of-horror-millions-homeless-127-killed-in-bihar/85752
“In a year when record heat is scorching Europe and the heaviest rain in decades has inundated parts of the U.S. Midwest, the Asia Pacific region is suffering from its own maelstrom of extreme weather.
“Drought, and floods in some areas, have devastated the livelihoods of thousands of people, and damaged crops in an area that produces most of the world’s palm oil, natural rubber and rice, and more than a third of its sugar.”
“Indonesia is stepping up efforts to prevent a repeat of haze that blanketed much of Southeast Asia four years ago by deploying thousands of firefighters and emergency response teams in its main palm oil- and rubber-producing regions.
“Authorities have declared a state of emergency in some provinces…”
“Japan is now sweating under a murderous heatwave after a historic lengthy rainy spell earlier this month, raising fresh concerns over Tokyo’s preparedness to protect athletes and spectators from the heat at the Olympic Games this time next year.
“The government said on Tuesday (July 30) that 11 people died and 5,664 people were taken to hospital with heat exhaustion symptoms in the week ending Sunday.”
“The longest Mississippi River flood on record is finally coming to an end, as several locations in flood for months have dropped, or will finally drop, below flood stage in the coming days in Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois.
“In Vicksburg, Mississippi, the river dropped below flood stage over the weekend for the first time since mid-February.”
https://weather.com/safety/floods/news/2019-07-29-record-long-mississippi-river-flood-ends
“This week’s expected heat wave in Regina [Saskatchewan] started with a record-low temperature. According to Environment Canada meteorologist Terri Lang, the mercury in Regina dropped to 3.6 C on Monday morning.
““That beats the old record of 3.9 (Celsius) set in 1925 with records starting in 1883,” Lang said.”
https://www.cjme.com/2019/07/29/hot-week-in-regina-starts-with-record-low-temperature/
““It’s definitely climate change,” Natali said. “It’s accelerating, and the past couple years have been particularly bad. The past winters have been warm. There has been rain when there should be snow, the ground hasn’t been frozen in this area.” And, she added, “the ground surface didn’t freeze until mid-January this year.”
“In addition to being unsafe, ground collapse also emits more methane.
““In undisturbed tundra, we have never seen nitrous oxide emissions, or nitrous oxide, another greenhouse gas. It’s more than 100 times more potent than carbon dioxide,” Natali said.”
Read the previous ‘Climate’ thread here and visit my Patreon page here.
