“The last fully intact ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic has collapsed, losing more than 40 percent of its area in just two days at the end of July…
“The Milne Ice Shelf is at the fringe of Ellesmere Island, in the sparsely populated northern Canadian territory of Nunavut.
““Above normal air temperatures, offshore winds and open water in front of the ice shelf are all part of the recipe for ice shelf break up,” the Canadian Ice Service said on Twitter when it announced the loss Sunday.
““Entire cities are that size. These are big pieces of ice,” said Luke Copland, a glaciologist at the University of Ottawa who was part of the research team studying the Milne Ice Shelf.”
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/08/07/world/science-health-world/canada-arctic-ice-shelf/
“If you felt like last month was an absolute scorcher in Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal, you’re not wrong…
“Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal, each had their hottest July on record this year!”
“Abnormally warm temperatures have spawned an intense fire season in eastern Siberia this summer.
“Satellite data show that fires have been more abundant, more widespread, and produced more carbon emissions than recent seasons.”
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/147083/another-intense-summer-of-fires-in-siberia
“Britain could have its hottest day on record today as Saharan air sweeps over the country, bringing the first official heatwave in a year and temperatures above 100F (38C) for the second time in a week…
“Temperatures could even climb above the all-time UK record of 101.7F (38.7C), which was set last July.”
“Western Europe is bracing for a sweltering heat wave as extreme temperatures are expected to grip the region for the second weekend in a row…
““When a heat wave lasts for this kind of duration the impacts can be compounding,” Ward said. “Many homes across the region don’t have air conditioning…””
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/08/06/western-europe-swelters-under-extended-heat-wave/
“Residents of Italy’s Aosta Valley have been told to evacuate their homes over fears that a portion of a Mont Blanc glacier the size of a football pitch could collapse over the region.
“Some 75 people were evacuated from the town of Courmayeur after the Safe Mountains Foundation sounded the alarm over 10,000 cubic metres of ice which could fall…”
“Extreme droughts are likely to become much more frequent across central Europe… Central Europe suffered its biggest and most damaging drought on record in 2018 and 2019, which had two of the three warmest summer periods ever recorded on the continent.”
“More than 150,000 Somalis have been forced to flee their homes since late June, including some 23,000 in the last week alone, due to flash and riverine flooding in the Southern regions of Somalia…
“The year has seen extreme flooding, displacing over 650,000 people across the country since the beginning of the year.”
https://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing/2020/8/5f2cf86c4/floods-drive-650000-somalis-homes-2020.html
“The Yemeni government has urged global action over a decaying oil tanker docked at a rebel-held port, warning its impact could be far worse than an explosion that devastated the Lebanese capital Beirut…
“Fears are mounting that the supertanker with its oil shipment has started to fall apart due to lack of maintenance.”
“The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius is facing an environmental crisis after oil began leaking from a bulk carrier that ran aground in July and started to break up in rough seas.
““We are in an environmental crisis situation,” said the environment minister, Kavy Ramano…”
“In the 72 hours since Tuesday, the city of Mumbai recorded 612 tree fall incidents.
“200 tree fall incidents per day for three days is “unprecedented”.”
“Scenes from Kerala floods as heavy rain leads to damage in the state yet again… Thousands of people have reportedly been shifted to relief camps as the spectre of horrifying floods is revived.”
Videos:
“With grim harvest prospects [due to floods] and his job in India gone, Sahi worries whether he will be able to provide food for his family in Nepal and continue paying for the education of his two sons.
““Sadly, I don’t have any options other than agriculture as I am not able to afford a loan from the bank during this challenging time,” he added.”
“Unprecedented floods caused by heavy rains have lashed large parts of southern China and affected millions of people. The water in many rivers has exceeded alert levels. Join CGTN to see how people in different parts of southern China are combating the heavy rains and floods.”
Video:
“North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered officials to provide food and shelter for hundreds of families who lost their homes in floods triggered by heavy rains…
“This year’s heavy rains come during the summer harvest season, raising concerns about food security as the rain appears to be hitting some of the major rice-growing areas of North Korea.”
“A month’s worth of rain has fallen across western Queensland in a single night courtesy of a dramatic storm that swept through in the early hours of this morning…
“The Ballera downpour of 55.6mm broke the area’s August rainfall record. The Bureau of Meteorology’s Rosa Hoff said the previous record of 26.6mm was set in 2004.”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-07/august-rain-records-in-western-queensland/12533370
“If you thought it was cold this morning, spare a thought for Liawenee in Tasmania’s Central Highlands — it is already one of the coldest places in Australia and has just broken its own record…
“Temperatures dropped to -14.2 degrees Celsius just after 6:00am — a new record low for the state of Tasmania and even colder than Antarctica.”
“Six regions of the center of Chile, where nearly 80% of the population is concentrated, faces an unprecedented water crisis, at least since records exist.
“Lack of water is evident to anyone. Anyone who is used to traveling by plane to Santiago realizes that the desert seems to have advanced from the north to the capital.”
https://pledgetimes.com/chile-faces-the-most-important-drought-in-its-historical-past/
“Devastating wildfires that burned out of control in late 2019 and early 2020 in Brazil’s Pantanal wetland are back.
“Around 1.2 million hectares (3 million acres) in the region have been burned so far… the Pantanal is suffering a prolonged drought that has spelled disaster for the region.”
“A new pandemic is inevitable: The Covid-19 pandemic, which follows the Sars and Mers outbreaks, marks the third time since the turn of the century that a coronavirus is thought to have jumped from bats to humans before morphing into an epidemic…
“the primary reason for the crossover was the change in how people engaged with nature, such as rapid deforestation and the global wildlife trade.”
https://www.ft.com/content/dc33f21b-740f-4be8-9947-b47439f557d2
“Last month was the world’s third-hottest July on record, new data show — the latest milestone in a global warming trend that has seen the three hottest Julys within the last five years.”
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