A video discussion by Nicholas Humphrey of the historically intense late-August cyclone headed for the Arctic on Friday (August 23rd).
He says, “I haven’t been tracking this all week, only heard about it this afternoon! The Amazon and fires have kept me busy.
“So much is happening, it’s wild.”
“At least four people died and more than 100 were injured in lightning strikes during a thunderstorm in Poland, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki says…
“The storm is said to have descended suddenly after a sunny morning.
“”Nobody expected such a sudden storm to break out and from our human point of view it was something which was impossible to predict,” Mr Morawiecki said an emergency meeting in the region.
“There were reports of casualties in different parts of the mountain range. At least four rescue helicopters were sent to the area.””
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-49439619
“A tropical plant has produced male and female cones outdoors in the UK for the first time in 60 million years, in an event that botanists say is a clear indication of climate change.
“Two cycads (cycas revoluta), a type of primitive plant that dominated the Earth’s flora 280 million years ago, have produced cones on the cliffs of a botanic garden on the Isle of Wight, off England’s south coast.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/22/uk/tropical-plant-uk-intl-scli-gbr/index.html
“When General Franco ordered a valley bordering the Tagus river to be flooded in the 1960s so that a hydro-electric dam could be built to boost the rural economy, a site described as Spain’s Stonehenge was lost to the world.
“Today, as a drought ravages the west of the country, the Bronze Age temple has emerged again on the bed of the dried-up reservoir.
“After more than a year without rain, the megalithic standing stones have reappeared…”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/spains-stonehenge-laid-bare-by-drought-cmh8mhd6h
Gran Canaria on red alert for a 40c/104f heatwave:
“Torrential rain has destroyed makeshift tents and caused severe flooding to temporary displacement camps in northeast Nigeria, leaving vulnerable families homeless. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is appealing for urgent financial assistance to address the colossal humanitarian needs and to prevent the spread of deadly cholera.”
https://www.nrc.no/news/torrential-rains-destroy-shelters-for-displaced-people-in-northeast-nigeria/
“It has been widely reported that the year 2019 is the driest in 90 years [for Namibia]. Windhoek measured the lowest rainfall since it started recording its rainfall in 1891.
“Government started rolling out the drought relief programme at the beginning of June, after President Hage Geingob declared a national drought emergency in May.”
https://reliefweb.int/report/namibia/drought-exacts-grim-toll-donkeys
“The China National Commission for Disaster Reduction and the Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) jointly activated a level-IV emergency response on Thursday for severe drought in central China’s Hubei Province.
“The work team dispatched to the drought-hit areas earlier had transformed into a disaster relief group to help with drought relief, according to the MEM.”
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-08/22/c_138329965.htm
“In February, about 600,000 cattle were killed by catastrophic flooding across north Queensland’s Carpentaria Gulf plains. The flood waters rose suddenly, forming a wall of water up to 70km wide.
“Record depths were reached along 500km of the Flinders River, submerging 25,000 square kilometres of country. Cattle were stranded. Many drowned.”
“For the first time in a quarter of a century, parts of NSW’s Hunter region will face water restrictions as the state deals with one of its worst droughts on record.
“The level one water restrictions – which focus on reducing outdoor water use – will kick in on September 16 across the Lower Hunter, which includes the city of Newcastle, 150km north of Sydney.”
https://au.news.yahoo.com/water-restrictions-lower-hunter-drought-015048566.html
“It’s called a sudden stratospheric warming event – and, unlike the name might suggest, the rare phenomenon could spell a burst of bitterly cold weather for New Zealand over coming weeks.
“A sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event kicks off when the temperature of the stratosphere – that’s 30km to 50km above ground – over the South Pole climbs by more than 25C.
“Meteorologists think it’s likely this is about to happen next week.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12261051
“Amazonia and its trees are a significant source for oxygen, and major sink for absorbing carbon dioxide.
“The process of photosynthesis is important for life on Earth and all of those trees in the Amazon are deterrents to the growing problem of increased greenhouse gases.”
“The American Southwest is feeling the heat with another round of record-challenging temperatures forecast during the last half of August as the region endures one of the driest monsoon seasons on record.
“On Wednesday, at least four record highs were broken in the Southwest, three of which were in Arizona.”
“Streets are flooded in “Coast Guard City, USA,” and the maritime rescue force is responding to dangerous events not seen for decades on Lake Michigan… Welcome to the nation’s “Third Coast,” where climate change is fueling conditions that have turned the Great Lakes into the erratic high seas of the Midwest.”
https://www.eenews.net/stories/1061024613
“Disease-carrying mosquitoes and ticks are an increased threat in New Jersey because they are living longer lives due to extended warm months and mild winters.
“Some of the state’s largest and most popular lakes have been inundated by algae blooms this summer due to an exceptionally wet year and exceptionally warm July. And fish that once swam in abundance off the coast of New Jersey have migrated north…”
“Federal fisheries experts are painting a devastating picture of the challenges facing Pacific salmon and point to climate change as the main culprit.
“Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said that 2019 has been an especially difficult year in what has been a decades-long decline in stocks, after his department released a new report on the state of wild Pacific salmon.”
https://globalnews.ca/news/5802595/bc-salmon-stocks-plunge/
“Scientists from the University of Oregon recently found that the underwater section of a glacier in southeast Alaska is melting at rates up to two orders of magnitude greater than those predicted by theory.
“The results, published in the journal Science, challenge the current models used to predict the melting of tidewater glaciers worldwide.”
https://glacierhub.org/2019/08/22/alaskan-glaciers-are-melting-twice-as-fast-as-models-predicted/
“Wildfires are a growing concern around the country [USA]. According to the latest National Climate Assessment, hotter, drier conditions over the past two decades have led to more area being burned across the US.
“To make matters more perilous, since the 1990s, many millions of homes around the country have been built in or near forested areas…”
“Black carbon particles from forest Siberian forest fires, fall down to the arctic ice. As these particles are black, they absorb sunlight and can accelerate ice melt if found in high enough concentrations.
“Our graphic shows black carbon concentrations, where high values can be seen emerging from the Siberian forest fires, circulating into the polar circle.”
“Our research, published today in Current Biology, found some plants have been going extinct up to 350 times faster than the historical average – with devastating consequences for unique species.”
Read the previous ‘Climate’ thread here and visit my Patreon page here.
