“The gases heating the planet in 2018 were higher than humans have ever recorded, according to an authoritative new report from the American Meteorological Society and the US government.
“Greenhouse gas levels topped 60 years of modern measurements and 800,000 years of ice core data, the study found. The data used in the 325-page report is collected from more than 470 scientists in 60 countries.
“The global annual average for carbon dioxide – which is elevated because of human activities like driving cars and burning fuel – was 407.4 parts per million, 2.4 ppm higher than in 2017.
“The report finds 2018 was the fourth-warmest on record since the mid-to-late- 1800s. Temperatures were .3C to .4C higher than the average between 1981 and 2010.
“Sea levels were the highest on record, as global heating melted land-based ice and expanded the oceans. Sea surface temperatures were also near a record high.”
“Multiple lightning strikes have been detected within 300 miles of the North Pole, in the latest extraordinary weather event amid an escalating climate change emergency…
“…polar lightning is so rare, due to temperatures usually being too low to allow the phenomenon, that the NWS decided to issue a public information statement over the weekend.”
“A cloud of smoke and soot bigger than the European Union is billowing across Siberia as wildfires in the Arctic Circle rage into an unprecedented third month.
“The normally frozen region, which is a crucial part of the planet’s cooling system, is spewing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and worsening the manmade climate disruption that created the tinderbox conditions.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/12/arctic-wildfires-smoke-cloud
“On Friday morning residents of the Verkhoyansk area of Siberia awoke to pitch darkness hours after the sun should have risen. By 8am, more than four hours after dawn should have broken, an area the size of Italy was reportedly still under entirely black skies and air temperatures had fallen…
“Weather experts said this time the unexpected blackout was likely to be due to a mixture of thick rain clouds combining with smoke from wildfires raging amid soaring temperatures.”
“Denmark will send 38 firefighters to Greenland to help extinguish a wildfire near Sisimiut, in the western part of the island. The fire started in early July and is now approaching inhabited areas.”
“Last month marked the hottest, driest July in the Aleutian Islands in 95 years. The conditions matched the larger trend across Alaska, which experienced below-average rainfall and record-breaking heat…
“”The oceans all around the state — the Gulf of Alaska, the North Pacific, the Bering Sea, and then north of the Bering Strait in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas — temperatures are significantly warmer than normal…””
https://www.kucb.org/post/aleutian-region-breaks-95-year-records-july-heat-rainfall#stream/0
“American farmers planted a lot more corn than expected this year. But at the same time, they also left way more acres unplanted than analysts predicted. Wait, what?
“If you’re confused, join the rest of the crop market. The U.S. Department of Agriculture put out two reports Monday that seem to be muddying the waters even more after record spring rainfall in the U.S. created widespread uncertainty over crop plantings.”
“Roads, cars and homes were partially submerged in water as flash flooding hit Granite City, Illinois.”
“Yesterday’s high temperature of 98 degrees in Jacksonville [Florida] tied its daily record for August 11 set in 2011. This is a type of record one would normally expect during a heat wave. However, high levels of humidity have prevented the mercury from falling as much as it normally does overnight. The morning lows have been so warm, they’ve also broken a few records across the state.”
https://news.wjct.org/post/recent-heat-wave-setting-unusual-records-florida
“It was a hot weekend, with several record temperatures set in Honolulu, Lihue and Kahului… Hot and humid conditions are expected to continue…
“Since the start of August, temperatures have either tied or broken previous record highs every day in Hilo, Kahului, Honolulu and Lihue, except for Monday, Aug. 5.”
“Japan is bracing for significant impacts from Severe Tropical Storm Krosa, as the storm churns over the west Pacific to the south of the country.
“As Japan recovers from the impacts of Typhoon Francisco and Tropical Storm Nari, Krosa is expected to bring impacts ranging from flooding to mudslides and damaging winds as early as Wednesday.”
“Heavy rain swept through eastern China after Typhoon Lekima made landfall in the coastal province of Zhejiang on Saturday.
“The powerful storm left a trail of destruction after a landslide backed up a river that broke through debris and inundated homes. The death toll from Lekima rose to 44 on Monday morning, according to state media.”
“From heat waves to flash floods, India has witnessed extreme weather conditions this year.
“While parts of northern and southern India were struggling with drought-like conditions in the summer, the Northeast and western coastal areas have been battered with torrential downpour lately… climate crisis is a reality and being faced in the form of multi-decade rain deficit and flash floods.”
“Up to 165 people are feared to have died and nearly a million others have been forced to leave their homes following floods in southern India.
“But the total number of dead is likely to increase as rescue workers search through debris after rivers flooded and buildings collapsed due to torrential monsoon rains.”
“A total of 161 people have been killed and 137 others injured in rain-related incidents since July across the country due to the current monsoon-triggered heavy rains, confirmed an official from Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority.”
https://www.gulftoday.ae/news/2019/08/12/over-160-killed-as-heavy-rain-wreaks-havoc-in-pakistan
“Santiago, Chile, Aug 12 (Prensa Latina) More than one million Chilean residents in rural areas are currently suffering the serious effects on the water service as a result of the severe drought affecting the country…
“…the weather phenomenon prevents the recovery of wells that are drying up, as denounced by the mayors of municipalities from the Arica Parinacota (north) to Biobio(south central)regions.”
“Farmland water supply [in E Australia] is dangerously low, and because of that there has not been much, if any, dryland planting of wheat, barley or canola in eastern Australia this season.
“A general decline in irrigated plantings of sorghum, cotton and other crops also occurred during the summer. In late July the water supply in most of the key water catchment basins in eastern agricultural areas of Australia reported storage levels of 5% to 26% with two exceptions.”
https://www.world-grain.com/articles/12455-eastern-australia-water-supply-dangerously-low
“Bones were washed out onto a public street after a church wall collapsed following heavy rain over the weekend.
“A historic wall at the Largo and Newburn Parish Church in Upper Largo, Fife [Scotland] collapsed on Saturday, disturbing some of the graves.”
“Britain is facing a cauliflower shortage after this year’s crop was ruined by the extreme summer weather.
“Heavy rains in June followed by last month’s heatwave affected yields in the UK and Europe so badly that supermarkets are running out of the now trendy vegetable, while prices have soared up to fivefold, with the wholesale cost of a cauliflower reaching £3. Other brassica – such as cabbage and broccoli – have also been hit, while Brussels sprouts could be in short supply for Christmas.”
“Tourists are being warned after a German pensioner died when she contracted a killer Vibrio infection whilst swimming.
“The elderly woman reportedly cut herself and developed the dangerous infection as she bathed at a beach in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on the German Baltic coast. Four others are now infected by the bug which thrives in hot weather.”
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/tourists-warned-after-man-contracts-18921942
“Two people are still missing in Chamoson, Switzerland after two cars were carried away by a mudslide. A violent storm had caused extensive damage in the area. The municipal and cantonal police, the rescue services, and many firemen were mobilised.”
“A large wildfire fanned by strong winds destroyed tracts of forest on the Greek island of Evia, firefighters said on Tuesday (Aug 13), as authorities prepared to evacuate two villages potentially in the path of the flames.
“Wildfires raged uncontrolled in at least four other Greek regions, and the fire brigade said it had been called to put out 182 fires in the last three days.”
“Data released by the Murcia office of AEMET [Spain’s meteorological service] shows that the recent heatwave was the most prolonged since 1984.”
https://murciatoday.com/the_recent_heatwave_in_murcia_was_the_longest_for_35_years_1063681-a.html
“…a team has unraveled evidence of that human influence. In a study published Monday in Nature Geoscience, a team of scientists showed that over the past century, human-driven global warming has changed the character of the winds that blow over the ocean near some of the most fragile glaciers in West Antarctica.
“Sometimes, those winds have weakened or reversed, which in turn causes changes in the ocean water that laps up against the ice in a way that caused the glaciers to melt.”
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