“…The probes …brought back troubling data — Geenland’s Helheim [glacier] was surrounded by warm water along its entire depth, more than 2,000 feet below the surface.
“It’s very rare anywhere on the planet to see 700 meters of no temperature variation, normally we find colder waters in the upper hundred meters or so, but right in front of the glacier it’s warm all the way up,” said Ian Fenty, climate scientist at NASA. “These warm waters now are able to be in direct contact with the ice over its entire face, supercharging the melting.”
“”It retreats by many meters per day, it’s tens of meters per day. You can probably set your iPhone on timelapse and actually see it go by…””
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/19/weather/greenland-nasa-climate-battle-intl/index.html
“…Whether 2019 will set a new all-time extent or volume record at the September sea ice minimum remains to be seen.. For anyone watching the Arctic this year, this dire data comes as little surprise.
“Things have been hot in the Far North, to say the least, with record heat waves, dramatic melt-outs and unprecedented wildfires.”
https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/2019-in-line-for-second-lowest-arctic-sea-ice-extent-record/
“Late-season wildfires during one of the driest summers on record in Anchorage have destroyed homes, forced evacuations, closed roads and schools and poured sometimes-dangerous levels of smoke into Alaska’s most populous region.”
“”When it fell, it was cracking small pieces here and there then a big chunk came, another big chunk, and then it just collapsed in on itself,” Hooper said…
“The incident came during a stretch of unusually warm weather in Alaska and just days after July became Alaska’s warmest month ever, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.”
https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/wireStory/kayakers-close-collapsing-alaska-glacier-65064220
“After being devastated by wildfires last year, California has gone through several months of being relatively fire-free. But as we head into the heat of late summer, the state is ready to burn.
“When the ignition happens, experts warn, it could cause wildfires more intense and destructive than anything California has experienced.”
https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/wjw89z/california-wildfire-season-2019-could-flare-up
“Arizona and Nevada are facing the first-ever mandatory cuts in the amount of water they can take from the Colorado River next year.
“The two states are among seven that have agreed to drought contingency plans for the river system that serves about 40 million people and 6,300 square miles of farmland from Wyoming to Southern California.”
“This spring’s heavy rainfall and flooding left 1.3 million acres (0.526 million hectares) of land unplanted in Arkansas. Lawrence County farmers saw nearly 74,000 idled acres (29,947 million hectares), the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
“Jerry Morgan is one of the county’s farmers who said his farm had more than 500 acres (202 hectares) of corn, rice and soybeans that he couldn’t plant this year.”
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article234155342.html
“Central Chile is suffering its worst drought in 60 years. This includes the capital of Santiago, home to nearly half the country’s population of 18 million people, as well as the nearby region of Valparaiso.
“Experts predict… the shortage of water will be permanent. Not only is this changing the lives of farmers and ranchers, but it’s also cutting into revenue from agricultural products sent on cargo ships from Chile to the U.S.”
https://www.benzinga.com/news/19/08/14294327/us-shipments-from-chile-dropping-amid-extreme-drought
“The number of forest fires in Brazil increased by 82 percent from January to August in 2019 compared to the same period last year, the country’s National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) said on Monday.
“According to Inpe, 71,497 forest fires were registered in the country in the first eight months of 2019, up from 39,194 in the same period in 2018.”
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-08/20/c_138322944.htm
“Grain and vegetable farmers in the eastern states [of Australia] need rain within six weeks or face the prospect of having no summer crops, depriving them of income for another season.
“Forecasts for spring rainfall released last week by the Bureau of Meteorology predict drier than average conditions across much of the inland.”
“There’s no more grazing all day like nature intended for them,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking to see the cows and sheep standing on hard dirt instead of soft grass.” …
““Some towns have been in drought for years, the farmers have run out of money, water and in some cases hope. I think it’s just a day by day scenario with most.””
https://au.news.yahoo.com/starving-cattle-barren-land-pictured-during-nsw-drought-031227537.html
“Meteorologists are debating whether a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) began earlier this month, putting a wobble into the polar vortex of westerly winds around the Antarctic and allowing freezing air to escape more easily and head towards southern New Zealand.
“Whether one is or isn’t already occurring, computer models are showing a much more significant winter stratospheric warming could begin in about 10 days or a fortnight.”
“A prolonged drought usually causes lower fresh fruit bunch production and may hit oil extraction during harvest in the next 6-12 months, said Pinta S. Chandra, investor relations, Sinar Mas Agribusiness and Food.
““It’s been so dry you can see unopened spears (on the trees),” said a plantation manager at a company that owns estates in both Indonesia and Malaysia, on condition of anonymity…”
“July 2019 saw [Singapore’s] rainfall hitting a record low. Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) advised that it was the driest July on the records since 1869, when the first rainfall records started, reported CNA.
“Meanwhile, temperatures have been steadily climbing… The prolonged warm weather appears to have taken its toll on nature.”
https://mothership.sg/2019/08/eco-lake-botanic-garden-dry-up-2019/
“The Ladakh region of northern India is one of the world’s highest, driest inhabited places. For centuries, meltwater from winter snows in the Himalayan mountains sustained the tiny villages dotting this remote land.
“Now, like many other places in India, parts of Ladakh are running short of water…”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/we-cant-waste-a-drop-india-is-running-out-of-water-11566224878
“Packed into an open-air theater to watch a play on climate change, the Egyptian villagers near the ancient city of Luxor rock with laughter…
“…even though it’s a performance about life and death…”
“Forest fires have consumed some 500 hectares (over 1,200 acres) of land in Izmir on Turkey’s Aegean coast, an official said Monday.
“On Sunday, the fires broke out in four different regions — including two in the southwestern Muğla province and others in Izmir province, according to Agriculture and Forest Ministry.”
“An out-of-control wildfire on the popular Spanish holiday island Gran Canaria has forced 9,000 evacuations, and the fire has now reached a natural park, authorities said on Monday.
“”It’s a huge forest fire, extremely serious, which happened in a heatwave,” and it is still not under control, Canary Islands President Angel Victor Torres told reporters. “This is an environmental tragedy.””
https://www.dw.com/en/spain-gran-canaria-wildfire-an-environmental-tragedy/a-50090920
“The record-breaking summer heat, which saw temperatures across the Maltese Islands reach 37.8°C in June, showed no signs of cooling off in July…
“The mean sea temperature was also over one degree warmer than the climate norm, standing at 26.4°C.”
““It’s cooked,” the French farmer said, lamenting the severe drought that will limit his harvest to less than half the amount he needs to feed his herd …“They will sell their animals, their herds will shrink and they will sell cows…”
https://www.ft.com/content/164e75da-b9d3-11e9-96bd-8e884d3ea203
“The initial and most-supported theory relating to jet stream variations and climate change is one in which warmer temperatures, especially in the Arctic as compared to the tropics, are making it slow down and become ‘wavier.’
“This means we can have more intense cold air incursions in the winter, but also more intense and prolonged heat waves during the summer.”
https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/the-jet-stream-and-the-weather
“Northern hemisphere summers will deliver dangerously longer heatwaves, droughts and bouts of rain even if humanity manages to cap global warming at two degrees Celsius, scientists said Monday…
“”We could see a significant shift in summer weather conditions,” said lead author Peter Pfleiderer, a doctoral researcher at Humboldt University in Berlin.”
https://phys.org/news/2019-08-heatwaves-longer-deadly-2c-world.html
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