“A new world record for high air pressure has provisionally been set in a high mountain valley in Mongolia. An automatic weather station in Tsetsen-Uul, in western Zavkhan province, recorded a mean sea-level pressure of 1,094.3 millibars along with bitter temperatures of -45.5C.
“If verified by scientists, it will top the previous world record of 1089.4 millibars, which was also set in Mongolia exactly 16 years ago on 30 December.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/world-record-high-air-pressure-mongolia-b1780381.html
“[Beijing, China] saw its coldest recorded December day in 42 years at -26 C [-14.8F], with residents astonished at the sudden temperature drop.
“”The forecast for Beijing is even colder than the North Pole,” a netizen on China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo said early on Wednesday…”
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202012/1211414.shtml
“The collision of a warm, wet weather front with a mass of cold air from Siberia could set a new record: the lowest barometric pressure recorded in the North Pacific.
“That could mean hurricane-force winds and high seas in the southwest Bering Sea.”
https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/12/29/bering-sea-storm-could-set-low-pressure-record/
“The storm that brought snow to southern Ontario… was much harsher to the communities of Nunavut [Canadian Arctic], with several days of blizzard conditions and strong winds peaking in record territory.
“From Saturday through to Tuesday, Environment Canada recorded staggering wind gusts ranging from 80 km/h to in excess of 136 km/h [84.5 mph].”
https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/record-setting-blizzard-in-nunavut
“A double header of winter storms is set to bring snow, ice, rain and plummeting temperatures to millions across the US by New Year’s Eve, with the Midwest bracing itself for as much as 24 inches of snowfall Tuesday.
“The first of two low pressure systems already brought heavy snow and rainfall to parts of the Southwest on Monday…”
“The combination of clear skies, light wind, and fresh snow caused temperatures in Colorado’s mountain valley locations to plummet Tuesday night.
“Antero Reservoir on the west side of South Park [Denver] dropped to 50 degrees F below zero [-45.6C].”
https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/12/30/brutally-cold-colorado-south-park-drops-50-below-temperature/
“Heavy snowfall closes roads in Chihuahua, Mexico December 30 2020.”
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky1ERQxB13c
“California’s wildfire hell: how 2020 became the state’s worst ever fire season. Impossibly fast and ferocious blazes burned a staggering 4.1m acres, making for an ‘astonishing and horrifying’ year.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/30/california-wildfires-north-complex-record
“Crippled Apalachicola River [Florida] leaves wetland forests in peril, famous oysters extinct:
“The collapse began nearly a decade ago with drought that left bay water lethally salty. Oystermen continued to harvest more than the bay could sustain.”
“The last glacial mass at the Humboldt Peak, known as the second highest peak in Venezuela, is rapidly melting due to global warming...
“A group of Venezuelan researchers found that the last glacier at the Humboldt, located on the Mount Sierra Nevada de Merida is close to disappearing, as they evaluated data on climate change in the region from May 2019 to October 2020…”
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/venezuelas-last-glacier-melting-due-to-global-warming/2094212
“South America’s Amazon rainforest will be wiped out by 2064 due to deforestation and prolonged droughts from climate change, a scientist predicts in a new paper…
“…it stands on the verge of a ‘tipping point’ as a consequence of human-caused disturbances, ‘for which we are all responsible’, according to Robert Walker, a professor of geography at the University of Florida.”
“The state [Hawaii] said that a severe drought on Molokai this year has led to the starvation of deer on the island.
“Molokai residents shared videos and pictures of deer carcasses piling up in their yards and roadways during the past several weeks.”
“Parts of New South Wales [Australia] could potentially break rainfall records by the end of December, as thunderstorms bring a rainy end to 2020.
“By New Year’s Day, areas in northern NSW, including the town of Gunnedah, could have officially broken previous December rain records, according to preliminary data collected by the Bureau of Meteorology.”
“Vietnamese pick up the pieces after 2020’s relentless storms: Climate change increases the risk to hard-hit central provinces, but few want to leave the only home they know…
“Across central Vietnam, cascading floods from October onward inundated the living and the dead, as record rainfall submerged towns and cemeteries.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/31/vietnam-storms
“A powerful tropical storm dubbed Chalane made landfall near the central Mozambique city of Beira early on Wednesday.
“The storm brought heavy rain and wind to an area devastated by Cyclone Idai nearly two years ago.”
https://africa.cgtn.com/2020/12/30/tropical-storm-chalane-makes-landfall-in-mozambique/
“The year 2020 was the hottest year in France since records began in 1900, state weather forecaster Météo-France said, in a new sign of global warming.
“France’s weather forecaster said that the average temperature across the country in 2020 was 14 degrees Celsius (57.2 degrees Fahrenheit), beating the 13.9C (57 Fahrenheit) recorded in 2018, it wrote on Twitter.”
“Ireland’s climate: A year of extremes, from wettest February to driest spring. ‘2020 is on course to be the 10th consecutive year of above-normal temperatures…
“Any notion Ireland in 2020 escaped the effects of global heating that is triggering more extreme weather events does not tally with Met Éireann’s data for the year.”
“An extraordinary drone video shows the vast extent of the recent flooding over the Cambridgeshire fens [UK].
“Following heavy rainfall, many areas of Cambridgeshire were hit by significant flooding over the festive period.”
Video:
https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-news/incredible-drone-footage-shows-impact-19532456
“Poland – hit by back-to-back droughts – is on a mission to save water and end its reputation as dry man of Europe.
“Crop yields have shrunk. Taps have run dry. And all this before climate change truly bites, experts say…”
“A well-preserved ice age woolly rhino with many of its internal organs still intact has been recovered from the permafrost in Russia’s extreme northern region.
“Russian media reported on Wednesday that the carcass was revealed by thawing permafrost in Yakutia in August.”
“Microscopic metal particles in air pollution linked to brain disease.
“While huge efforts are taken to prevent deaths and illness from Covid, air pollution is a menace that is impacting almost everyone… There is growing evidence that these often strongly magnetic particles can worm into our brains and set in motion what looks worryingly like the early stages of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.”
“The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius continues to face a major political, social and economic crisis following this summer’s oil spill.
“On December 29, the capital city saw further protests. This comes five months after the major oil spill by the Japanese bulk carrier, the Wakashio, which rocked the island nation.”
“…the number of face masks that made it into the oceans this year may be as high as 1.5 billion. Plastic pollution is devastating the oceans.
“It kills an estimated 100,000 marine mammals and turtles, over a million seabirds and even greater numbers of fish, invertebrates and other animals each year.”
https://www.waste360.com/waste/approximately-15-million-face-masks-have-entered-our-oceans
“This year has broken a series of unwelcome weather records. Last month was the warmest November in history. This followed the hottest January, May and September. All-time temperature peaks were registered from the Antarctic to the Arctic.
“Since the start of the year, Australia, Siberia and California have suffered record fires. The Atlantic has generated record storms. Ice in the Laptev Sea has started forming later than ever.”
Happy New Year! You can read the previous ‘Climate’ thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with an ‘Economic’ thread.
Public service announcement: If you’re struggling with the reality of these posts, confidential and free support is available at doomersupport.org.
