“An underwater heat blob from the Atlantic is delivering more and more warmth to the Arctic, causing sea ice to rapidly melt, a study has found.
“The research shows that the amount of heat delivered to the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas by ocean currents has increased markedly since 2001.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/arctic-sea-ice-atlantic-ocean-b1760392.html
“Zack Labe, an Arctic climate specialist at Colorado State University, said, “There is [still] a large area of open water that would normally be sea ice covered … The Arctic has transitioned from a state of old and thick sea ice to one with thin, first-year ice accompanied by rapidly warming ocean and air temperatures.”
“Researchers say that Siberia’s extreme heat in 2020 would have been effectively impossible without human-caused climate change and was made at least 600 times more likely by human emissions of greenhouse gases.”
“A freak snowstorm that has battered parts of the Russian Far East and left 100,000 residents without electricity for several days is linked to climate change, analysts and activists say…
“The weather phenomenon 6,500 kilometers east of Moscow follows an abnormally mild and snowless winter in 2019 that scientists also attributed to climate change.”
“Why Moscow’s warming winters are a warning to the world: [In 2019] Moscow fell into an extended six-month autumn, and an inescapable sense that something was terribly wrong.
“That December was snow-free for the first time in living memory. Rain fell in January, a month when the mercury wouldn’t ordinarily rise much over -15. In February, bears emerged early from hibernation and flowers began to bloom. By March, the world’s coldest and northernmost megacity was bounding into another sweltering summer.”
https://www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/2020/11/why-moscow-s-snowless-winters-are-warning-world
“Just two weeks after making history with the warmest stretch of sustained temperatures ever recorded in November, the City of Toronto is once again boasting a new weather record: This one for a heck ton of snow.
“Toronto was hit with a whopping 19.4 cm of snowfall on Sunday…”
https://www.blogto.com/city/2020/11/what-toronto-looked-after-first-record-setting-snowfall/
“Officials with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said they believe a storm that brought hail, high winds and lightning to Davis County earlier this month is what killed or injured dozens of swans.
“DWR officials told KSL on Tuesday that it recovered a total of 41 swans after the Nov. 14 storm. In all, 34 swans died and another seven were injured.”
https://ksltv.com/449657/dwr-dozens-of-swans-killed-injured-during-northern-utah-storm/
“A Santa Ana wind event expected over the holiday weekend is the latest sign that California’s worst wildfire season on record may still have some fuel left in the tank.
“In a pair of fire weather forecasts released by the National Weather Service, meteorologists warn that warm, dry inland winds are expected to sweep over the Southland from Santa Barbara to Orange counties from Thursday through Sunday, raising the risk that a fire would burn out of control.”
“In less than a decade, some of the burned expanses from this year’s megafires could burst into intense flames again.
“In some ecosystems, high-severity fire can beget more high-severity fire, furthering the loss of forest.”
“When wildfires spread across California, they leave a cascade of water problems in their wake: Some communities have their drinking water poisoned by toxic substances.
“Others wrestle with ash and debris washed into reservoirs and lakes. And many living in remote stretches of the state struggle with accessing enough water to fight fires.”
https://thecounter.org/unsafe-drinking-water-wildfires-california-rural-towns-tainted-water/
“For scientists studying ‘disaster fatigue,’ 2020 has been a year like no other:
“In Lake Charles, for example, people twice had to weigh the perils of trying to ride out an oncoming hurricane against the risk of contracting COVID-19 if they evacuated to a packed emergency shelter.
“In California and other states, residents faced similar choices when confronted with several waves of massive wildfires.”
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/11/scientists-studying-disaster-fatigue-has-been-year-no-other
“Covid-19 and climate change make hurricanes more devastating for Latin America: When it rained, people used to see it as a good omen. Now in Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala, they see the drops falling from the sky with terror.
“After two Category 4 hurricanes this month, communities in these Central American countries have witnessed rivers overflowing from torrential rains, crops destroyed, cattle washed away, schools flooded, and roads engulfed in landslides. Death, disease and poverty will likely follow.”
“‘One more hour and we’d all be dead’: Colombian island smashed by record-breaking hurricane: Laidy Betancourt sleeps in a tent on the floor of the Catholic church that gave her family sanctuary on the night a vicious hurricane destroyed their island…
““This was the first time I’ve lived through something like this and I think it will be the last, because we’re thinking about moving from here,” she told The Telegraph.”
“Queensland [Australia] is set to transform from a sunburnt country into a land of flooding rains this summer.
“Forecasters warn that La Nina will dampen the state’s bushfire season, but create a more intense storm and cyclone season this summer.”
“A 4500km conveyor belt of scorching weather stretching from Broome [Australia] all the way to the country’s south east could prove “dangerous” in the coming days…
“The all-time record for Australia’s hottest ever November day could be broken with the mercury rising close to 50C [122F].”
“Deforestation and greater risk of flooding set off environmental alarms in Vietnam:
“The recent, devastating floods highlight the fragility of the country’s natural environment. Deforestation, expanded farming, timber harvesting, and hydroelectric dams are the main culprits.”
“The behavior of glaciers around Mount Everest over the last six decades is now revealed in research published today:
“Dr. Owen King, of the School of Geography and Sustainable Development at the University of St Andrews, who led the study said:
“”Our results show that ice mass loss rates have consistently increased since the early 1960s and are now similar to the average global rate of ice loss, despite the regions extreme elevation.””
https://phys.org/news/2020-11-everest-region-glaciers-thinning-high.html
“Emergency restrictions have been imposed on the movement of people and a public holiday has been declared in several coastal regions of India as the very severe cyclonic storm Nivar approaches the country.
“The cyclone is forecast to make landfall on Wednesday and is expected to bring powerful winds gusting up to 145kph [90mph] and heavy rainfall to areas already battered by storms this year.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/cyclone-nivar-emergency-storm-india-b1760972.html
“Severe rain caused flooding in the capital of Iraq, Baghdad.”
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRwJIVQuSmM
“Serious flooding in Somalia’s Puntland region after Cyclone Gati:
“Cyclone Gati hit Somalia’s Puntland region, flooding homes and causing considerable damage. Heavy rains and strong winds triggered flash floods along coastal and inland areas…”
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/serious-flooding-somalias-puntland-region-135106530.html
“Djibouti experienced heavy rains between 21 and 28 November 2019, triggering flash floods and destruction of property, homes and livelihoods across the country…
“…peak rainfall was experienced for three days between the dates of 21 to 23 November 2019, with over 295mm of rainfall recorded.
“This was more than Djibouti’s yearly average rainfall of 127mm and was equivalent to two years of rainfall.”
https://reliefweb.int/report/djibouti/djibouti-flash-floods-final-report-dref-n-mdrdj003
“One million people affected by Nile River floods. “This is what climate change looks like”:
“The floods immediately affect over one million people in South Sudan. In Jonglei alone, the worst-affected state, they have displaced an estimated 400.000 people. More to the north, in Sudan, torrential rains had risen Nile water levels by 17.5 metres in August. Flooding destroyed millions of acres of farmland and killed innumerable cattle. For the first time in history, even the pyramids in Meroë are threatened by flooding.”
“The Desert Locust crisis which struck the greater Horn of Africa region earlier this year threatening food supplies for millions, could re-escalate as recent strong winds carried mature swarmlets from southern Somalia into eastern and northeastern Kenya…
“…there remains a risk of further egg-laying in sandy areas that saw recent rainfalls.”
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/11/1078392
“Unbelievable sandstorm hits the South African town of Upington, Northern Cape.”
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x1CRtATtx4
“Storms Ciara and Dennis inquiry finds North Yorkshire communities [UK] ‘need to become more resilient to protect themselves from floods‘:
“The report… states that February 2020 was the wettest since the Met Office records began in 1891, and the Pennine-fed catchments of the rivers Swale, Ure, Nidd, Wharfe, Aire, Calder and Don received between 320 per cent and 375 per cent of their monthly average rainfall.”
“Shift in atmospheric rivers could affect Antarctic sea ice, glaciers:
“Weather systems responsible for transporting moisture from the tropics to temperate regions in the Southern Hemisphere have been gradually shifting toward the South Pole for the past 40 years, a trend which could lead to increased rates of ice melt in Antarctica, according to new research.”
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201123120730.htm
“Methane Hits Record High in Atmosphere as Fossil Fuel Companies Diverge:
“Oil and gas producers in Europe commit to reporting emissions but major U.S. firms do not.”
You can read the previous ‘Climate‘ thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with an ‘Economic’ thread.
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