“Siberia’s wildfires are not decreasing – they are only getting bigger despite Russian airforce intervention, Greenpeace Russia warned this week.
“In a situation update released on Tuesday, the environmental group said the area of existing forest fires reached 4.5 million hectares, compared to 4.3 million on Monday.
“”The area of forest fires in Siberia continues to grow despite the statement by the governor of the Krasnoyarsk territory, Alexander Uss, claiming that in his region ‘there was a radical turning point in the fight against fires’,” Greenpeace Russia said Tuesday in a statement.
“Reached by Euronews, Greenpeace fire expert Anton Beneslavsky pointed to the slow response of authorities.
“”The size is now hardly manageable. The fire is already too big,” Beneslavsky said. He added that the situation could potentially turn dangerous for local populations, as fires could develop unpredictably towards inhabited areas. Even from a far distance, exposure to smoke could pose a danger to health, the expert said.
“NASA also released data showing how the fire was spreading in some areas.”
“The scale of the melt in Greenland during the heatwave last week is difficult to comprehend but satellite imagery has shown the true extent of the thaw. Experts have set to work to put the event into context using high-definition pictures from the European satellite network Sentinel.”
“A handful of US states – including New Mexico and California – are facing significant strains on their water supplies that will only intensify with global heating, according to new rankings.
“New Mexico tops the list and is the only state with “extremely high” pressures on its water availability. The state’s score is on par with the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East and Eritrea in Africa, the World Resources Institute (WRI) found.”
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/aug/06/us-states-water-stress-new-mexico-california-arizona-colorado
“Torrential rains last night brought flooding in two municipalities in México state, damaging property and leaving vehicles under water.
“Intense rains accompanied by hail began at 6:00pm in Atizapán de Zaragoza and lasted for an hour and a half, dumping 50 milliliters per hour of water onto the municipality.”
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/heavy-rain-brings-flooding-in-2-mexico-state-municipalities/
“The Chilean Minister of Agriculture, Antonio Walker, has shown the government’s concern about the exceptional drought situation that is taking place in the region of Coquimbo –
“”We are seeing a harsh reality in Coquimbo, there is an emergency in the region because we have a deficit of 88% rainfall. There is a very serious emergency and the ministry is going to face it,” said Minister Walker.”
https://www.freshplaza.com/article/9130349/chile-drought-emergency-in-coquimbo/
“Fiji will introduce one of the world’s most ambitious legislative programs to tackle the climate crisis, and has labelled the global community’s decision to set aside the call for global heating to be capped at 1.5C “grossly irresponsible and selfish…
“Sayed-Khaiyum outlined the impact the climate crisis was already having around the world, including the Arctic ice melt, record high temperatures, droughts, floods and wildfires.””
“Japan’s food self-sufficiency rate fell one percentage point to 37 pct on a calorie basis in fiscal 2018 from the previous year, tying the lowest level on record, the agriculture ministry said Tuesday. The lowest record was last marked in fiscal 1993, when Japan was hit by a historically poor rice harvest amid unstable weather.”
“Soaring temperatures in Japan have killed at least 57 people since late July, authorities said on Tuesday, highlighting the health threat to athletes and fans that Olympics organisers must tackle before next year’s Tokyo games.
“Temperatures have been stuck above 31C in and around Tokyo since 24 July, the date the Summer Games will open next year in Japan’s capital and run for 17 days.”
“As Europe’s latest heat wave showed, climate change is scorching the Earth. The World Meteorological Organization suspects the period from 2015 to 2019 will be the warmest five years on record.
“China is particularly in trouble. As temperatures soar across the world, heat waves are expected to happen more often there.”
“Today, what is commonly known as the Fertile Crescent — the cradle of civilization and the Garden of Eden — is not so fertile anymore.
“The region that extends from the Nile Valley, through the Levant and along the Tigris-Euphrates river system is facing unprecedented pressure stemming from a toxic combination of global climate change and localized poor environmental management.”
“Temperatures during Hajj season this year are expected to reach 50 degrees Celsius on some days, Saudi officials said Sunday. Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Meteorology and Environmental protection also expects humidity to reach 85 percent, making the climate feel even hotter.”
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1535366/saudi-arabia
“Saudi: Torrential rain lashed the province of Jazan, bringing life in many areas to a standstill. The rain fell heavily for more than nine hours, which blocked many roads and caused damages to houses and the electricity-distribution network.
“The civil defence units are looking for a number of people whose cars were swept away…”
http://www.gdnonline.com/Details/582859/-Torrential-rain-lashes-parts-of-Saudi
“Zimbabwe is seeking $331.5 million in humanitarian aid as the southern African nation battles the “twin shocks” of a sustained drought and a cyclone earlier this year, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said.
““We have to protect the vulnerable from everyday shocks,” Ncube told reporters Tuesday in the capital, Harare.”
“Some 1.6 million people are currently facing hunger in Mozambique, with that number set to rise to 1.9 million between October and February next year, according to WFP estimates.
“The country was struggling to feed itself even before cyclones Idai and Kenneth in March and April, because of a long-running drought affecting the whole of Southern Africa.”
“At least 80 people had to be evacuated from mountain areas above Lake Como after severe storms triggered mudslides and flash flooding…
“A state of emergency was declared on Tuesday night in Casargo, a comune in the mountains to the east of Como, after heavy rain caused the Varrone river to burst its banks for at least the second time this summer.”
https://www.thelocal.it/20190807/evacuations-storms-mud-slides-in-northern-italy
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