“330,000 Chinese facing drinking water shortages as drought hits south: Rainfall since October in regions south of Yangtze River down 50 to 80 per cent on normal levels, water ministry says
“About 2.4 million people in Zhejiang, Guangdong and Fujian already affected, concerns growing in Guangxi, Hunan and Yunnan, it says.” [You may recall that these regions experienced severe floods in 2020].
“Unremitting torrential rains unleashed a flood fury that inundated 51 villages in 13 sub-districts in Sambas District, West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia.
“”Based on the temporary data that came in, 51 villages in13 sub-districts were submerged by subsequent floods,” Yusran, head of the the Sambas District Disaster Mitigation Office (BPBD), stated on Tuesday.”
https://en.antaranews.com/news/167644/downpour-triggered-floods-submerge-51-villages-in-sambas
“‘Fighting for life’: Bangladesh shrimp farmers destitute in wake of cyclone.
““The shrimp farm was under water for nine months. Three to four feet of silt has accumulated there. Everything on the farm is ruined. Now a lot of money is needed to fix these again. I am now carrying the burden of debt. Where can I get money for shrimp farming?””
“At least 171 people are missing and 26 have died in northern India after part of a Himalayan glacier fell into a river sending a devastating avalanche of water, dust and rocks down a mountain gorge, and crashing though a dam.
“Rescue teams worked through the night to find survivors trapped under the debris. Most of the missing are workers from two hydroelectric projects in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, which were hit by the avalanche.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/08/asia/india-glacier-dam-disaster-climate-intl-hnk/index.html
“Experts are citing climate change as the reason behind the flood caused by a glacier breaking off in Uttarakhand, a “rare incident” by any measure according to them.
“Prima facie this looks very much like a climate change event as the glaciers are melting due to global warming, says Anjal Prakash, the lead author of the ongoing 6th Assessment report of IPCC.”
“Five people are still missing in Mpumalanga, South Africa, following heavy rain and floods this week but the death toll remains at eight.
“Communities in low-lying areas have been worst-hit, with search parties launched for the missing.”
https://www.enca.com/news/five-people-still-missing-mpumalanga-after-floods
“At least 24 people have been killed after heavy rain caused a flood in an illegal underground textile workshop in a private house in Morocco, the state news agency reported.
“Rescue workers recovered 24 bodies from the Tangier property and rescued 10 survivors who were taken to hospital, the MAP agency said on Monday, citing local authorities.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/8/more-than-20-dead-in-morocco-underground-factory-flood
“A study by the National Observatory of Athens on weather trends in the Greek capital since 1860 showed 2011-2020 as being the warmest decade on record with an average temperature of 19 Celsius.
“That is 1.5C higher than previous averages, putting Attica on the cusp of climate change limits under the Paris Agreement.”
“Flooding has sent carpets of waste plastic down river into Hungary over the past few days, officials say, despite earlier pleas to its upstream neighbours Ukraine and Romania for an end to the pollution.
“As of Monday, floating garbage disposal units have removed 500 cubic metres of waste from the Tisza and Szamos rivers…”
“Southwestern France was hit by heavy flooding on Monday following days of torrential rain, and several other regions including eastern Paris were onflood alert ahead of a cold snap expected later this week.
“The worst flooding was in Saintes, 115 km (71 miles) north of Bordeaux, where the river Charente stood at a near-record level of 6.20 metres (20 feet).”
“Authorities in the Netherlands declared a rare “code red” emergency for the entire country as it was hit by its first proper snowstorm in more than a decade.
“Storm Darcy, which has also sent temperatures plummeting across Germany, packed winds of up to 90km (55 miles) an hour and sent temperatures as low as -5C (23F).”
“February is set to be the coldest month on record in Scotland after bookies slashed odds as an amber weather warning for snow is issued…
“Leading bookmaker Ladbrokes cut the odds on this winter ending as the coldest since records began in the UK to 1/3 as temperatures continue to drop.”
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scots-freeze-february-coldest-month-23461264
“A polar vortex continues to bring bitter cold to the Prairies, resulting in cancellations of schools and buses in all major Prairie cities…
“According to Environment Canada, 22 cold-weather records were broken throughout the three provinces. The coldest temperature was recorded in Uranium City… where it was –48.9 C/-56F, breaking a previous record of –40 C/-40F set in 2019.”
“The climate crisis is multiplying the miseries faced by people with allergies, with new research finding that the pollen season in North America is now an average 20 days longer than it was three decades ago.
“Rising global temperatures are helping lengthen the period of time, typically in spring, when pollen is released by plants, trees and grasses, according to the study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”
“Heat wave in Magallanes, Chile: Magallanes is experiencing a heat wave, 25 degrees /77F are expected for this Tuesday in Punta Arenas. High temperatures will last until Wednesday.”
[This is in the very far south of South America, of course. The all-time high record is 26.1C/79F].
https://www.24horas.cl/regiones/austral/ola-de-calor-en-magallanes-4645345
“Whales are starving to death due to rising ocean temperatures:
“The decline in grey and humpback whales in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans has been traced to food shortages caused by rising ocean temperatures.”
https://www.lifegate.com/whales-hunger-global-warming
“From shrimp to whales, marine animals use sound to communicate with each other and interpret their underwater environment.
“But since the Industrial Revolution, noise from human activity has been polluting the ocean soundscape, stressing animals and disrupting their behaviors.”
https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/ocean-noise-pollution?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1
“Efforts to slow the process of global warming focus on the future harms of continuing to burn fossil fuel, but new research released Tuesday shows that deadly consequences from pollution are killing larger numbers of people right now than had been assumed…
“A global study of fine-particle pollution doubles previous mortality estimates and shows that even lower levels—as seen in the U.S.—are more deadly than previously shown.”
You can read the previous ‘Climate’ thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with an ‘Economic’ thread.
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