We live in an era of converging crises with ever more interplay between them:
“Large parts of China were reeling on Friday from the worst floods in decades, as disruption mounted for supply chains, including for personal protective equipment (PPE), vital in the fight against the novel coronavirus.
“The central city of Wuhan and the provinces of Anhui, Jiangxi and Zhejiang declared red alerts as heavy rain swelled rivers and lakes.
“Wuhan, on the banks of the Yangtze river where the novel coronavirus emerged late last year, warned residents to take precautions as water levels fast approached their maximum guaranteed safety level… With the relentless rain, more misery seems inevitable.
“The giant Three Gorges reservoir, which has been holding back more water to try to ease downstream flood risks, is more than 10 metres higher than its warning level…”
“The Three Gorges Hydroelectric Power Station on China’s Yangtze River is running at full capacity… The situation along the Yangtze River has been grim since the Three Gorges Dam saw the river’s first flood of the year on July 2.
“The upper reaches of the Yangtze River are forecast to see a new round of floods within the coming days.”
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-07/17/c_139218325.htm
“Monsoon floods have swamped large parts of India’s densely populated eastern states, forcing more than a million people into makeshift shelters despite the risk of coronavirus, senior officials said on Thursday…
“…this year India is also grappling with the virus, which has infected 968,875 people and killed 24,915, health authorities say.”
“The death toll from flash floods in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province rose to 32 on Thursday with 16 people still missing, officials said.
“National Search and Rescue Agency spokesman Yusuf Latif said rain continued to fall as hundreds of rescuers searched on Thursday for the missing villagers.”
“Huge waves have pummelled the Australian state of New South Wales, eroding some coastal areas and putting homes at risk of collapse. In beach suburbs to the north of Sydney, residents lost decks and fences as the surf lapped at the edge of properties.
“Authorities say they have recorded waves as high as 11m (36ft) this week off the city’s coastline.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-53440048
“Large quantities of the soy and beef imported to Europe from Brazil have been “contaminated” by deforestation, research shows.
“The findings suggest much more needs to be done to protect Brazilian land as pending trade agreements are likely to increase sales to European consumers.”
“In the last week, over 1,200 heat records and 159 July heat records have tumbled across the US. Dozens of all-time hottest temperatures have also been recorded.
“More records are expected as the heat wave stretches through the weekend and into next week.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/16/weather/weekend-forecast-heat-wave-us/index.html
“For five days in a row, Roswell reached at least 110 degrees, setting a new record for the most consecutive days with a high temperature at or above 110, all while breaking record high temperatures each day…
“According to records, there has been a noticeable rise in the average July temperature and the average summer temperature in Albuquerque over the past fifty years.”
https://www.krqe.com/weather/summer-heatwaves-becoming-more-common-in-new-mexico/
“The Great Lakes have hit a record-breaking 80F for this time of year, almost as hot as bathwater.
“The increase comes during a heatwave along the east and the US border with Canada which has produced algae blooms which are harmful to water creatures.”
“Alaska state and local health officials are warning of dangerous high levels of toxins in shellfish, after a person died of paralytic shellfish poisoning from mussels and snails in the Aleutian Island community of Unalaska…
“In recent years, communities across the state have reported spikes in toxin levels, possibly related to rising ocean temperatures. That creates a better environment for the algae that produce the toxins…”
Intrigued and puzzled by this and the next story – theories welcome!
“The United States has seen a stunning lack of tornadoes since May, the fewest for that time of year in almost 70 years.
“Over the last 20 years, the months of May (281) and June (196) have averaged the most tornadoes in the U.S. But in true 2020 fashion, that script has been ripped up.”
https://weather.com/storms/tornado/news/2020-07-16-tornado-drought-since-may
“While the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific hurricane basins had an early start this year, and just days ago the earliest “F” storm to form made landfall on the Jersey Shore on the U.S. East Coast, the tropics around the United States …and around the globe are remarkably quiet now…
“Yesterday, there was not a single hurricane, typhoon, or tropical storm anywhere on the planet.”
https://www.weatherboy.com/tropics-around-the-globe-remarkably-quiet/
“No year since weather records began was as hot and dry [in Europe] as 2018.
“A first comprehensive analysis of the consequences of this drought and heat event shows that central European forests sustained long-term damage. Even tree species considered drought-resistant, such as beech, pine and silver fir, suffered.”
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200716123000.htm
“Kazakhstan is facing high fire threat due to fervent heat across the republic, Kazinform reports with the reference to the Emergency Situations Committee under the Ministry of Internal Affairs…
“The main causes of wildfires are hot temperatures, abandoned campfires, cigarette butts left on the land, dried grass burning and lightning.”
“Smoke from raging forest fires in Siberia on Thursday filled cities as officials scrambled to prevent the flames reaching homes…
“Yakutsk, the main city in the region of Yakutia with more than 300,000 residents, has been badly affected, according to images shot by local cameraman Ivan Semyonov, who posted them on Instagram on Wednesday.”
https://phys.org/news/2020-07-russian-wildfire-siberian-cities.html
“An abandoned copper mine in Russia has released a huge amount of toxic waste into nearby rivers and lakes. The waste was held in a pond for treatment but nobody could pay to have it neutralized, and recent rains caused it to spill over.”
https://bgr.com/2020/07/16/orange-river-russia-copper-mine/
“Millions of people around the world could be exposed to dangerous levels of heat stress – a dangerous condition which can cause organs to shut down.
“Many live in developing countries, and do jobs that expose them to potentially life threatening conditions.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-53415298
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Regarding your wondering about the sudden absence of storms in typical USA areas, perhaps we are temporarily in the “eye of the storm”? the much bigger storm …
I appreciate your daily efforts to gather this awful data. I used to try to find such worldwide reports by myself, but as you know, it is a big effort. I feel at this point, there is so little I can do, but at least I can serve as a witness to the tragedy and suffering as it unfolds, and offer some compassionate kindness.
Kendra, thank you for the kind words. Being a witness and offering some compassionate kindness sounds like a good plan. it’s not easy but we can at least try to be little oases of calm and presence – it can’t hurt. H