“With global temperature rises now affecting even Siberian cities like Yakutsk – one of the world’s coldest places – the time when the Lena’s ice is declared safe enough to drive on arrives later every year.
“Kostya Germogin, however, has a living to earn, and does not have time to wait for the official all-clear, which would normally have come weeks ago. So off he sets across the ice sheet – undeterred by the risk of plunging through the ice, a fate that kills numerous drivers every year.”
“Two fisherman have been rescued after an unfortunate accident left them stranded on a piece of ice drifting untethered around the Arctic seas surrounding Russia…
“The two were riding on a snowmobile across the frozen wastelands of northern Siberia when the machine fell through an ice chasm… The fragility of the ice also proved a problem for the rescuers.”
“Residents of the port town of Seydisfjordur in east Iceland have been moved to safety following a mudslide after record levels of rainfall.
“Some houses were destroyed by the deluge of mud and rocks. An 11-year-old boy has told how he and his father didn’t have time to dress before running from their home.” [Video]
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-55389821
“Scotland has failed to meet international targets to prevent wildlife from becoming extinct by 2020 – despite ministers insisting last year they were on track, the Herald can reveal.
“An analysis by Scotland’s countryside agency, NatureScot, seen by the Herald reveals that efforts to protect endangered animals and plants were “insufficient” to meet 11 of 20 agreed United Nations targets by 2020.”
“Parts of Wales have been affected by deep flooding on Saturday morning while there are concerns a coal tip is in danger of slipping down the mountainside in the Rhondda valleys.
“Wales was battered by heavy rain throughout Friday evening and into the night and river levels were quick to rise.”
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/flooding-wales-weather-forecast-rain-19488520
“Four million minks culled in Denmark over a mutant coronavirus strain will be exhumed next year to prevent contamination, the Scandinavian country’s government said.
“The move follows complaints from residents about potential health risks after some of the mink had resurfaced.”
“2020 will hold shared first place as warmest year ever recorded in the Netherlands.
“It looks like 2020, together with 2014, will be the hottest year on record. With one and a half weeks to go, the average temperature will probably be 11.7 degrees, the same value as six years ago, reports Weeronline.”
“The Edenville and Sanford dam failures displaced thousands of people in mid-Michigan during the COVID-19 pandemic and destroyed homes, businesses and infrastructure. Heavy spring rains led to the flooding, which state officials labeled a once-in-500-years event.
“Since then, it has inspired the Sanford Strong hashtag and an outpouring of community support.”
“Winnipeg on pace for driest Winter:
“One scientist is issuing a Brown Christmas warning as Winnipeg and parts of Southern Manitoba are on pace for the driest Winter on record.” [Video]
https://winnipeg.citynews.ca/video/2020/12/20/winnipeg-on-pace-for-driest-winter/
“Heat deaths of people experiencing homelessness more than doubled between 2019 and 2020, according to Maricopa County data [Arizona].
“The cause? A fatal combination of the hottest summer on record and limited indoor escape from the heat because of COVID-19 closures of places such as libraries and community centers.”
“After the hottest, driest summer in Arizona state history, authorities have recovered close to a 10-year record in the number of bodies of people who crossed from Mexico into Arizona’s deserts, valleys and mountains.
“It’s a reminder that the most remote paths to enter the U.S. can be the deadliest.”
“Toxic spills offer a bleak vision of the end of oil in Venezuela:
“Broke and subject to international sanctions, President Nicolas Maduro’s government is squeezing what it can from Venezuela’s collapsing oil industry, unleashing an environmental disaster in one of Earth’s most ecologically diverse nations.”
“Tropical forests in Brazil have begun to release more carbon than they absorb as the warming climate kills more of the trees, researchers said.
“The forests play an important role in the climate fight for their ability to absorb carbon dioxide from Earth’s atmosphere, but dry and warm seasonal forests in SE Brazil have been progressively absorbing less carbon while releasing more over time, with the region transitioning “from a carbon sink to a carbon source” in 2013…”
“Deadly Tropical Cyclone Yasa leaves ‘devastation’ across Fiji’s north:
“Entire villages have been flattened and thousands of people are now homeless after what is one of the strongest storms ever recorded.”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-20/tropical-cyclone-yasa-leaves-devastation-in-fiji/13001014
“‘Our defence has gone’: Byron Bay reels as storm surge devastates Australia’s famous beaches:
“The white sands of Main and Clarkes beaches have been washed away after suffering slow erosion over a year… “”I couldn’t believe what I was seeing…””
“Northeast NSW is set for another soaking, with a weather system wreaking havoc in northern Australia also forecast to cause flooding…
“Massive rainfall totals have already been recorded, with Lombadina on the Dampier Peninsula receiving 244mm [9.6 inches] in a day – almost half of that falling in a single hour.”
https://au.news.yahoo.com/more-floods-expected-sodden-north-nsw-065959190–spt.html
“Weather officials in Japan warned that there will be more heavy snow this weekend… The record snowfall this week in Niigata and neighbouring Gunma was brought by a strong cold air mass.
“More than 2,000 vehicles were stranded for many hours on an expressway. Snowfall is expected to intensify in some areas on Sunday. About 100 centimetres [39.4 inches] of snowfall is expected in Niigata.”
https://www.euronews.com/2020/12/19/japan-braces-for-heavy-snowfall-in-mountainous-areas
“Cambodia’s giant life-giving Tonle Sap lake in peril:
“More than a million people live on or around the lake, the world’s largest inland fishery, but water levels have plummeted and fish stocks dwindled because of climate change and dams upstream on the Mekong.”
https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2038855/cambodias-giant-life-giving-tonle-sap-lake-in-peril
“Typhoon Vicky leaves 9 dead… in the Visayas and Mindanao [regions of The Philippines] as it slowly moved away from the country…
“…the typhoon’s heavy rainfall reached the red warning, causing rivers to overflow.”
https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/12/21/news/regions/typhoon-vicky-leaves-9-dead/814624/
“The number of people made homeless by floods in four Terengganu districts [Malaysia] now stands at 5,869 people from 1,516 families, with agencies involved in rescue operations on high alert to evacuate more people tonight.
“As at 8pm, 4,961 people from 1,198 families in Kemaman have been evacuated to 24 relief centres.”
https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2020/12/650792/terengganu-floods-more-5000-forced-homes
“Feisty torrential rains across Pakistan in the pandemic-hit 2020 not only highlighted the climate change issues but also laid bare the country’s administrative weaknesses.
“This year’s torrential rains also severely affected Sindh and the economic hub of the country, Karachi.”
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2276771/raging-rains-climate-change-put-karachi-in-a-bind-this-year
“Winter conditions have started to show their damaging impact on northeastern Syria’s Idlib province, where thousands of displaced Syrians in need of humanitarian assistance struggle to hold onto life in refugee camps.
“Over the weekend, heavy rain hit the province, leaving the camps in mud and water as shelters become unusable.”
https://www.dailysabah.com/world/syrian-crisis/heavy-rain-hits-syrias-idlib-imperiling-refugees
You can read the previous ‘Climate’ thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with an ‘Economic’ thread.
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