“A severe drought afflicting an [Australian] Outback town has left the community with only a few weeks until the water supply completely runs out.
“Stanthorpe, on Queensland’s southern border, is suffering from what locals have described as the ‘worst drought in living memory’.
“Residents have been warned that Storm King Dam, which supplies the town’s water, is just weeks shy of using the last of its reserves.”
“Temperature Temperatures were above average (0.51°C to 1.2°C above average) or well above average (>1.2°C above average) nearly everywhere across New Zealand
“….with the most unusually warm temperatures in the interior South Island and parts of Manawatu-Whanganui.”
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC1908/S00013/climate-summary-2nd-warmest-july-on-record.htm
“At least seven people have died due to heat-related causes in Japan since Friday
“…including an infant who was left unattended in a parked car for hours in Toyama City, local officials and police said Saturday, as a heat wave, with temperatures climbing as high as 38 C, gripped wide areas of the country.”
https://japantoday.com/category/national/heat-wave-claims-more-lives-in-japan
“Powerful typhoon Francisco is heading toward the Japanese archipelago and is expected to make landfall in southern Kyushu in southwestern Japan early on Aug. 6, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.”
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190805/p2a/00m/0na/002000
“Lekima is expected to become a typhoon by Tuesday as the storm slowly tracks toward the southern Ryukyu Islands. Additional strengthening is forecast from Wednesday into Friday allowing Lekima to become a large and powerful typhoon with winds equal to a Category 2 hurricane in the Atlantic or Pacific oceans.”
“At least five people have died and 13 others are reported missing after Tropical Storm Wipha slammed into Vietnam’s northern coast, authorities said on Monday.
“The worst hit province was Thanh Hoa, where three people were killed and 12 were reported missing, according to a statement by the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/dead-missing-typhoon-wipha-slams-vietnam-190805054650790.html
“Philippines – A strong tornado lashed across a village in Marogong, Lanao del Sur over the weekend and destroyed houses, a school building and a mosque.
“Photos from the 5th Marine Battalion Landing Team show the tornado’s trail of destruction.”
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1150110/look-tornado-leaves-trail-of-destruction-in-lanao-del-sur-town
“The latest estimate from the University of Thai Chambers of Commerce (UTCC) shows the drought disaster this year has affected some 1,330 square kilometers of farmland, most of which is rice farms, with initial damage estimated at about 10 billion baht… The overall damage is expected to escalate to 37 billion baht should the drought extend through September…”
“The public water supply [Chennai, India], the supposed alternative for his customers, has been reduced to a trickle by a withering drought.
“But the shortages also reflect a pervasive problem across India: water management by the authorities.”
https://www.ft.com/content/51007944-b456-11e9-bec9-fdcab53d6959
“”There used to be a lot of grass for our animals to graze on,” said Hashu, a woman from the Rabari community [Kutch, India], whose face is sculpted by deep wrinkles.
“”Now there is no fodder or water and we can only watch our animals die.””
“More youths in Gokwe North [Zimbabwe] are turning to gold panning for survival following an unyielding cropping season which has left over 50 000 people in the area in need of immediate food aid.
“Gokwe North District Administrator, Isaac Mutambara has said the more energetic and enterprising youths have now turned to the rich gold panning practice in the Zenda area in Gokwe for survival as drought continues to take its toll on the rural population.”
https://allafrica.com/stories/201908050228.html
“We found that over the 66-year period, sardines arrived off the coast of Durban [South Africa] increasingly late—at a rate of 1.3 days later per decade… the ocean water is warmer.
“Sardines can tolerate a maximum surface temperature of 21°C. But this temperature isn’t being reached consistently at the same time every year due to changes in ocean temperature.”
https://qz.com/africa/1681146/these-scientists-tracked-south-africas-sardine-run-over-66-years/
“A marine biologist is taking notice of stunning images of tropical fish photographed by an amateur diver in the warming waters off Nova Scotia’s southern shore…
“As the weather gets warmer, the tropical species are remaining in the region for longer periods of time, though most are likely dying off in late fall as waters grow cold…”
““Lake Ontario’s outflows were increased to 10,400 cubic metres per second in early June. This is equivalent to the record high outflows recorded from June 14 – August 7, 2017,” said Christine Phillibert, Water Resources Manager. “High outflows from Lake Ontario are expected to help provide some relief to shoreline residents while still considering the effects on the St. Lawrence.””
http://www.countylive.ca/water-levels-remain-at-record-high/
“It’s dry in the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia and Alaska. Very dry.
“A contiguous stretch of over 2,000 miles of Pacific coastline is experiencing drought conditions ranging from “abnormally dry” to “extreme drought,” according to U.S. and Canadian Drought Monitors.”
“The Bering Sea and its coastal communities are feeling the effects of a pair of recent warm winters. Biologists and others who are following the changes closely are still working to understand what the long-term consequences might be.
“”There is an ecosystem-wide shift in the northern Bering Sea,” said biologist Gay Sheffield, of Nome, speaking during the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission meeting in Utqiagvik this week.”
http://www.thearcticsounder.com/article/1931bering_sea_is_feeling_the_effects_of_warm
“A Cambridge scientist has warned that the “decaying” of the Greenland ice sheet risks pushing up the sea level and threatens coastal cities around the world.
“Peter Wadhams, professor of ocean physics and head of the Polar Ocean Physics Group at the University of Cambridge, said he had observed first hand drastic changes to conditions in the Arctic.”
“When a forest burns, the carbon emitted gets reabsorbed when the vegetation grows back. But the Arctic fires are burning through a sensitive ecosystem, one that’s usually verdant, cool, and wet. Once burned, the peat there won’t store carbon again on any meaningful timescale.
““The peat accumulates over centuries or millennial,” Yu said. “Part of that can be burned off in days or weeks.””
“This month, the Academic Lomonosov will be towed 3,000 miles to the Chukotka region of Russia, next to Alaska, to provide steam heat and eventually electricity to the small coastal goldmining town of Pevek. It is the flagship of Russia’s drive to bring nuclear power to the Arctic…
“…the floating plant took more than a decade to build at high cost and has been dubbed the “nuclear Titanic” over safety concerns.”
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