“An elusive record that has stood strong for nearly 122 years might have been broken during the monster snowstorm that has pummeled New Jersey during the past three days.
“The National Weather Service announced Tuesday night it received a preliminary report of 35.1 inches of snow on the ground in Mount Arlington in Morris County.
“If that report is confirmed, it would top the state’s longtime record of 34 inches of snow, which fell during a multi-day blizzard that stretched from Feb. 11 to Feb. 14 in 1899.”
“A powerful winter storm engulfed the US Northeast on Monday, blanketing much of the region in heavy snow, blasting coastal areas with high winds and bringing New York City and other major urban centres nearly to a standstill…
““It’s the storm of the century!” predicted snowplough operator James Carew, 56, of Union, New Jersey…” [Photos]
https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2021/2/2/in-pictures-major-storm-pummels-us-northeast-with-snow
“Extreme drought could become common in Scotland as climate change alters our weather over the next two decades, scientists suggest.
“Research published by national agency NatureScot predicts that the number of extreme drought events could increase from an average of once in 20 years to one every three years.”
“Park staff at Ferry Meadows, Peterborough (UK) are once again dealing with the effects of heavy rainfall at the park – with this winter described as the worst ever for flooding…
“Greg Higby, Park Manager, said this year had been the worst he could remember – and because of climate change, he was expecting it to get worse in the future.”
“The leading climate scientist James Hansen has warned Boris Johnson that he risks “humiliation“ over plans for a new coal mine in Cumbria.
“The UK government, which hosts a climate summit this year, has allowed the mine at Whitehaven to go ahead. Dr Hansen, formerly Nasa’s leading global warming researcher, urged the PM to halt production – or be “vilified”.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-55923731
“A Paris court has convicted the French state of failing to address the climate crisis and not keeping its promises to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.
“In what has been hailed as a historic ruling, the court found the state guilty of “non-respect of its engagements” aimed at combating global warming.”
“Days of torrential rain has caused rivers across France to burst their banks, overflowing roads and villages, with 18 départements still on high flood alert on Thursday…
“The Garonne river that passes through the southwestern département of Lot-et-Garonne, was at risk of “major flooding”, according to the national weather forecaster.”
“Located in Central Anatolia and once known as Turkey’s grain warehouse, the Konya Closed Basin is fighting drought due to improper irrigation activities and uncontrolled agriculture.
“Çıralı Sinkhole, one of the most important natural formations in the region with an area of nearly 17,500 square meters, has also dried up after weeks without rain.”
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkeys-biggest-basin-sinkhole-struggles-with-drought-162122
“Morocco’s unemployment rate rose last year to 11.9% from 9.2% in 2019, the planning agency said on Wednesday, citing the double impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and drought.
“Farm income hinges on volatile rainfall levels in the semi-arid North African country, pushing more rural people to seek work in urban areas.”
“Climate crisis accelerates the risks of another catastrophic Western Cape drought:
“The recent Western Cape drought cannot be written off as a once-in-a-lifetime event. If we were living in a world without human-induced climate change, this might be the case – but we are not.”
“Torrential rains are wreaking havoc across Botswana with weather experts predicting more rains and thunderstorms in most parts of the southern African country.
“These torrential rains caused by the remnants of Cyclone Eloise have triggered flashflood in many parts of the country especially in Botswana’s capital city, Gaborone…”
https://africa.cgtn.com/2021/02/03/cyclone-eloise-brings-heavy-rains-and-floods-to-botswana/
“Madagascar: Thousands Migrate North to Escape Hunger and Drought:
“Famine hit the Androy and Anosy regions harder than usual in 2020. In a local health centre in southern Madagascar, the number of malnourished children doubled in one year.”
“The Jakarta provincial administration has deployed around five thousand members of the trash task force (pic), including river troops, to clear several main rivers of waste, as part of flood prevention measures during rainy season…
“In early 2020, flash floods triggered by high-intensity rainfall over several days had swamped several parts of 17 sub-districts of Jakarta as well as many other sub-districts in its metropolitan areas, including Bekasi and Bogor.”
“Flash floods inundated certain areas of the villages of Lamolda and Sekinyak near the Indonesia-Malaysia land border in West Kalimantan after heavy rains pelted the areas from morning to afternoon on Wednesday (Feb 3).
“The floodwaters that submerged certain areas of the two villages in Lumar Sub-district, Bengkayang District, reached as high as an adult’s waist…”
“Dubbo’s warmest February [NSW, Australia] night is usually around 24 degrees, more than two degrees warmer than it was 50 years ago.
“However, last year’s warmest February night smashed this average, reaching 31.6 degrees… Its not just night time temperatures that are changing in Dubbo.”
“How Heatwaves and Drought Combine to Produce the Perfect Firestorm:
“Long heatwaves during entrenched drought often trigger fears of bushfire. It’s easy to imagine rolling days of hot, dry weather desiccating leaves, bark and twigs, transforming them into a potent fuel.”
“Fiji grapples with unfolding crisis of cyclones and COVID-19 tourism downturn, urges Australia to allow travel bubble:
“Days after being smashed by a second devastating cyclone, Fiji is grappling with an unfolding crisis, with roads in some areas cut, food in short supply and concerns over dirty drinking water.”
“The heavy and unseasonal rainfall in much of Chile over the weekend has caused an unprecedented disaster for the fruit industry, according to the chief of the Federation of Fruit Producers (Fedefruta)…
“”These rains were a climatic phenomenon out of proportions, a catastrophe that the fruit sector had not seen before,” Jorge Valenzuela told Agriculture Minister María Emilia Undurraga on Monday.”
“Increasing risk of floods as glaciers recede in Central Andes:
“A researcher at the University of Huddersfield has examined the rate at which glaciers have been retreating in the Central Andes and says further monitoring is needed to address the growing risk of ‘Glacial Lake Outburst Floods’ to communities located downstream from the melting glacier lakes.”
https://www.miragenews.com/increasing-risk-of-floods-as-glaciers-recede-in-509348/
“Eight dead and more than 30,000 families affected by floods in Bolivia:
“Floods and other disasters caused by the latest rains in Bolivia have so far left eight dead and 30,943 families affected, of which more than a fifth have suffered great losses, reported the Vice Minister of Civil Defense, Juan Carlos Calvimontes.”
“Floods after unusual rain: more than a thousand houses were affected in Cordillera [Paraguay]:
“The road network in the department of Cordillera was literally destroyed and today the routes, bridges and other roads remain disabled. About a thousand homes were affected by the floods.”
“Antarctica Is Melting in a Way Our Climate Models Never Predicted, Scientists Say:
“”The ice sheet is not changing with a constant rate – it’s more complicated than a linear change,” explains Lei Wang, who researches civil, environmental, and geodetic engineering at Ohio State University.
“”The change is more dynamic: The velocity of the melt changes depending on the time.””
“Global heating-driven ice melt could result in blooms of potentially toxic plankton algae in the Arctic:
“As a result of climate change, the sea ice is shrinking in the Arctic, which in turn has an impact on the plankton community that forms the foundation of the entire marine food web.”
https://www.oceanographicmagazine.com/news/climate-change-algae-arctic/
You can read the previous ‘Climate’ thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with an ‘Economic’ thread.
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