“Record high temperatures in northern Russia this winter have prevented sea ice from forming, threatening the birth of baby seals as the pupping period approaches, a local NGO has warned.
“Thousands of ringed and grey seals live in the waters of the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga near the city of St. Petersburg, which has seen temperatures more than 10 degrees Celsius above average this winter.”
“Arctic sea ice cannot “quickly bounce back” if climate change causes it to melt, new research suggests.
“Scientists used the shells of quahog clams, which can live for hundreds of years, and climate models to discover how Arctic sea ice has changed over the last 1,000 years.”
https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/clam-shell-study-issues-dire-warning-over-arctic-sea-ice-melt/
“Gases that deplete the ozone layer could be responsible for up to half of the effects of climate change observed in the Arctic from 1955 to 2005.
“The finding could help to explain the disproportionate toll of climate change on the region, which has long puzzled scientists.”
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00108-2
“The highest air pressure in the UK in more than 60 years has been recorded in Wales.
“A reading of 1050.5 hectoPascals (hPa) was recorded at the Mumbles, in Swansea, on Sunday evening, making it the highest UK reading since January 1957.”
“When there’s a big storm, a sudden spring thaw or an onslaught of rain — as there was on Jan. 11, when 56.6 mm fell, eclipsing a record for rainfall in one day in January that had stood since 1893…
“…the water flowing rapidly into storm drains and seeping through the ground can gush into [London‘s] sanitary system and overwhelm facilities meant to capture its sludge.”
https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/januarys-record-rain-exposes-londons-dirty-sewage-secret
“Four people have died as strong winds and heavy snowfall battered parts of Spain on Sunday and Monday, according to officials.
“More than 30 Spanish provinces are on high alert and parts of southern France are expecting the poor weather to arrive soon.”
https://www.dw.com/en/spain-storm-gloria-kills-4-disrupts-travel/a-52081614
“With another winter storm hitting Israel this week, and following two such tempests in recent weeks that caused mass flooding in multiple cities and several deaths, municipalities were bracing for new havoc — and this time with a chance of snow.”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/cities-brace-for-fresh-havoc-amid-heavy-rains-chance-of-snow/
“Heavy rainfall continued in December 2019 and January 2020 in several locations across East Africa, bringing the number of people affected by flooding since July 2019 to nearly 3.4 million…
“The unusually heavy rains that have impacted Eastern Africa since October 2019… have contributed to a serious and widespread desert locust outbreak…”
https://menafn.com/1099578885/East-Africa-Regional-Floods-and-Locust-Outbreak-Snapshot-January-2020
“Residents in Maritzburg [South Africa] were forced from their homes when the Msunduzi River burst its banks on Saturday.
“On Sunday Msunduzi mayor Mzi Thebolla, ward councillors and disaster management teams were still assessing the damage. Thebolla said many homes along the river were damaged.”
“Seasonal rains in recent weeks have caused severe flooding and landslides in Indonesia.
“Many of the nation’s nearly 270 million people live in mountainous areas prone to landslides or plains close to rivers that flood regularly.”
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/indonesia-bridge-collapse-death-toll-students-a4338721.html
“Over half of the populations of more than 100 threatened species in Australia may have been killed in the ongoing bushfire crisis.
“On Monday the country’s Commonwealth Department of Environment and Energy released a report showing the devastating impact of the blazes.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/20/100-threatened-species-put-risk-australian-bushfires/
“Australia had already suffered through perhaps it’s ‘angriest’ summer on record when hail storms ravaged Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney this week.
“The storms have left at least a $320 million insurance bill… The weather extremes can best be exemplified in Queensland which has faced near record rainfalls, temperatures and extreme fires so far this summer.”
“There is concern for the accelerated and constant disappearance of snow and ice at the O’higgins and Frei bases of Chilean Antarctica, a sector that in the last 19 days has been affected by a heat wave .
“The place has received temperatures above 4.8 degrees Celsius , reaching a maximum of 6.9 , for almost 17 days , reports the commander of the Army base, Major Fernando Inostroza.”
“Ice cream, plenty of water and refreshing baths are part of Wild Freshness, an activity that the conservatives of the Zoological Park Santa Fe de Medellín are applying to animals to combat the heatwave…
“2020 began in Colombia with high temperatures and, according to the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies, Ideam, the dry season will last until mid-March, which has raised the threat of fires…”
https://tn8.tv/america-latina/495049-zoologico-medellin-helados-animales-mitigar-calor/
“According to the United States Department of Agriculture, heavy spring rains across the [USA] in 2019 caused nearly 20 million acres of farmland to go unplanted.
“Farmers incurred, collectively, billions of dollars in losses, disrupting rural economies across the country as well as the communities they support. Last year was both the second hottest and second wettest year on record…”
https://www.popsci.com/story/environment/2019-record-floods-midwest/
“Japan’s burgeoning ski industry has hit a stumbling block, with unusually low levels of snowfall across the country disappointing visitors and forcing many resorts to shut their doors.
“Northern Japan has been hit particularly hard, with only 38 per cent of its average snowfall in December, marking the lowest level since the Japan Meteorological Agency started collecting records in 1961.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ski/news/japan-snow-report-skiing/
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