“Climate change is taking its toll on one of the world’s coldest places. A study suggests that the Arctic “may be essentially ice-free during summer within 15 years.”
“The study used statistical models to predict the future amount of Arctic ice, which suggested that the Arctic could be ice-free in the summer during the decade of the 2030s – most likely in the year 2034.”
“Moscow, which for the past months has largely been deprived of its traditional seasonal covering of snow, has seen its warmest winter since records began…
“…the average temperature in Russia from December to February has been 2.5C warmer than the previous record… Records began 140 years ago in Russia.”
https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2020/0229/1119383-russia-warming/
“Germany’s harvest of ice wine – a dessert wine produced from grapes that have frozen while still on the vine – has failed for the first time because the winter has been too warm.
“None of Germany’s 13 wine-growing regions had the necessary temperatures of -7C to produce the wine in 2019.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51695464
“Switzerland experiences its mildest winter since records began…
“The national average temperature from December to February was 0.7°C, the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, MeteoSwiss, said on Friday… The warmer temperatures have affected flora… February also saw unusually turbulent weather. A few regions recorded as many as 23 days of storms.”
“The last three months have been the warmest temperatures ever recorded in France, according to data published on Friday.
“Temperatures in France were 2.7℃ above the 1981-2010 average, with conditions in February especially mild.”
https://www.euronews.com/2020/02/29/france-s-winter-is-the-warmest-ever-recorded
“A total of 82 flood warnings remain for England, Wales and Scotland after Storm Jorge battered parts of Britain over the weekend…
“It comes after the storm which lead to the wettest February on record – with the UK average of 202.1mm rainfall surpassing February 1990 when 193.4mm fell.”
https://news.sky.com/story/uk-weather-dozens-of-flood-warnings-after-record-rainfall-11947695
“February this year has gone down as the driest since [Malta’s] Met Office started compiling data in 1923.
“With a mere 0.6mm of rain – registered on the fifth day – February 2020 has surpassed that of 2016 to become the driest ever on record. That year, the Met Office had registered 2.4mm of rain.
“In the almost 100 years since the rainfall data started being kept, the month of February had always been one of the wettest months of the year…”
https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/february-saw-less-rain-than-june-july-and-august.775034
“Unusually high temperatures across Morocco and a lack of rain are pressuring the country, which is heading towards a second successive drought season that is expected to affect 2020 economic growth…
“Farm income is volatile in semi-arid Morocco where climate change has caused droughts and summer flash floods in some areas.”
https://middle-east-online.com/en/morocco-heading-towards-second-successive-drought-season
“More than 200,000 people have been affected by floods that have ravaged Congo since last year, authorities said Saturday.
“The government has issued an urgent international appeal after the flooding along the Congo and Ubangi rivers in the country’s north, inundating communities and washing away homes and cattle.”
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/03/01/world/congo-floods/#.XlzqEaj7TIU
“Crop failures could be seen across more than 10,000 hectares of agricultural land in West Java due to the recurring floods that have hit the province over the past few months…
“Agricultural experts have warned that climate change has begun to affect food production in parts of the country, and have urged the government to introduce programs to mitigate the impacts.”
https://reliefweb.int/report/indonesia/floods-put-west-java-brink-crop-failure
“The summer of 2019-20 was the second hottest summer on record in Australia after last year. December 2019 delivered the worst bushfire conditions since 1950….
“The only hotter summer on record was the previous year, which was 2.14C above average. Temperatures this summer were above average across almost the entire country.”
“Australia’s summers have lengthened by as much as a month or more in the past half century, exposing people to greater fire and heat extremes and placing ecosystems and farm crops at risk.
“Researchers from The Australia Institute… found in the past five years, summers were 50 per cent longer than they were in the mid-20th century.”
“The cost of a massive hailstorm that pelted Timaru in November is the third largest weather-related insurance cost event in New Zealand this century.
“”The destructive power of hailstorms is seldom experienced, but the Timaru event on November 20 showed us the fierce effect of these storms when concentrated on urban areas,” Insurance Council of NZ chief executive Tom Grafton said.”
“The damages caused by the high temperatures that have been recorded have been increasing and in 2020 it seems it will not be the exception.
“The recent heat wave caused by high temperatures has generated drought and large-scale forest damage which have been increasing [in Quintana Roo, Mexico].”
https://www.meganews.mx/quintanaroo/preven-futuro-apocaliptico-por-ola-de-calor-en-quintana-roo/
“The end of February typically isn’t the time to worry about wildfires in the San Francisco Bay Area, but amid an unusually long dry spell in the middle of winter, the National Weather Service is warning of fire risk Sunday through Monday.
“”Fuels are record dry,” the NWS said. “Use extreme caution with any outside burning.””
https://www.sfgate.com/weather/article/Fire-weather-winter-California-Bay-Area-SF-15094781.php
“A warming planet has major ramifications on winter snowpack across the globe, including a long-term drying trend for many. That’s a concern for winter sports enthusiasts and communities that depend on snow throughout the year…
“This year has been a prime example of what is becoming more common. Snowfall has been abysmal in California this winter.”
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