“Long forgotten Cold War experiment has revealed its icy secret. It’s bad news for the planet…
“The findings, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, indicate that the biggest reservoir of ice in the Northern Hemisphere [the Greenland ice-sheet] can collapse due to relatively small increases in temperature over a long period of time.
“That makes it even more vulnerable to human-caused warming, which is causing the Earth to warm faster now than at any other period in its history.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/03/15/greenland-ice-sheet-more-vulnerable/
“Although it was supposed to be a global warming “winner,” Russia has become an unexpected climate change victim.
“The anomalies in Siberia are a wake-up call from Mother Earth.”
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Comment/Siberia-s-warming-shows-climate-change-has-no-winners
“Five-year-old spots Arctic walrus off coast of Ireland after it ‘fell asleep on an iceberg and drifted over’…
“The artic walrus was spotted washed up on the rocks at Valentia Island, County Kerry in the south west Ireland by Muireann Houlihan.”
https://inews.co.uk/news/environment/arctic-walrus-spotted-ireland-five-year-old-girl-915336
“Focusing efforts on reducing emissions will not be enough to stop the climate change emergency, the UK’s Environment Agency chief executive has warned.
“Sir James Bevan said “even with the ambitious global and national actions we all want to see to reduce emissions, some further climate change is now inevitable”.”
“The series of severe droughts and heatwaves in Europe since 2014 is the most extreme for more than 2,000 years, research suggests.
“The study analysed tree rings dating as far back as the Roman empire to create the longest such record to date. The scientists said global heating was the most probable cause of the recent rise in extreme heat.”
“Sweltering East London residents suffer under record-breaking heatwave:
“According to South Africa’s Weather Service, the highest temperature in the province (East London) yesterday was 44.2C [111.6F] in Addo, which beat its all-time record high of 42.6C [108.7F] set on 17 February 1955.”
[Article is subscription-only but ^^^that is the story in a nutshell].
https://www.dispatchlive.co.za/news/2021-03-15-sweltering-el-residents-suffer-under-record-heat/
“Kenyans in need of humanitarian aid to increase as drought persists…
“In a statement, NDMA said the number of people considered to be in need of immediate humanitarian assistance increased by about 90% overall from 739,000 recorded in August 2020 to 1,425,000 in February 2021.”
“The U.N. office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs, OCHA, reports an estimated 2.7 million Somalis will face severe food shortages over the coming months as drought conditions affect more areas in the country.
“Somalia’s decade-long drought continues to chip away at people’s ability to cope with this seemingly never-ending disaster. The worst has not yet come to pass.”
https://www.voanews.com/africa/millions-face-acute-hunger-somalia-drought-widens
“The arrival of an enormous sandstorm in the Middle East has some Bible scholars speculating it could be “divine intervention”.
“Both Mecca and Medina, the holiest cities in Islam, were engulfed by the sandstorm which tinted the air dark red over the weekend. Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, was also hit.”
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/saudi-arabia-doomsday-sandstorm-could-23729973
“A heavy dust storm lashed entire Mongolia before losing its velocity on Monday, leaving at least nine people dead and 12 others missing, an official said.
“Col. Ariunaa told Anadolu Agency by phone from the capital Ulaanbaatar that the dust storm started on Saturday.”
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/dust-storm-in-mongolia-leaves-9-dead-12-missing/2176378
“A massive sandstorm has combined with already high air pollution to turn the skies in Beijing an eerie orange, and send some air quality measurements off the charts.
“Air quality indexes recorded a “hazardous” 999 rating on Monday as commuters travelled to work through the thick, dark air across China’s capital…”
“2021 has already seen the wettest and driest months in decades. Is Singapore prepared for more?
“Singapore must brace itself for adverse climate impacts such as extreme rainfall and drought… Climate scientists expect that as global temperatures rise, much more rain will fall in extreme downpours.”
“Sakura [cherry blossom] season officially declared in Tokyo, earliest start to hanami on record…
“…the 14 March blossoming date was 12 days earlier than average…. and the earliest flowering date since records began in 1953. The agency says February temperatures this year were the second highest on record, which contributed to the earlier-than-usual blooms.”
“The Murray Darling Basin [NSW, Australia] faces a dramatically drier future… as experts warn authorities are failing to keep pace with climate change.
“Reports released over the past two months by state governments and the Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) found the expected sharp decline in water flows would damage the environment, threaten large irrigation districts and shrink scores of rural economies across the nation’s food bowl.”
“At least four species of shark and skates unique to Australia are at an extreme risk of extinction unless urgent protections are put in place, according to a new report from conservationists.
“All four species – the whitefin swellshark, Sydney skate, grey skate and greeneye spurdog – spend their lives on the ocean floor but get caught in trawl nets.”
“What a downpour! Heavy rains in Bogotá [Colombia] leave several floods…
“Ideam recently shared the new climate forecasts in Colombia for the March, April and May quarter, when it is expected that there will be precipitation higher than the historical records for this period.”
“Extreme conditions will raise the temperature in Mexico: up to 45 degrees [113F] in the southeast of the country…
” in Jalisco, Governor Enrique Alfaro warned… “Comprehensive water management is, without a doubt, a challenge that we all have,” he said. “Today the Calderón dam that supplies the north of Guadalajara is totally dry, it no longer gives us a drop of water.”“
“At least 57 people died in Texas as a result of last month’s winter storm, according to preliminary data the state health department released Monday…
“The deaths occurred in at least 25 counties between Feb. 11 and March 5, the state agency said. The majority of verified deaths were associated with hypothermia…”
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/03/15/texas-winter-storm-deaths/
“Severe weather, tornadoes cause damage throughout Texas Panhandle region…
“The Amarillo office of the National Weather Service is estimating that six tornadoes made their way throughout the Texas Panhandle Saturday, affecting southern Randall County… as well as other Panhandle towns including Claude and Clarendon. “
“Winter and spring collided Sunday as parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Nebraska were blasted with up to 4 feet of snow while Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri braced for heavy rains, high winds, flooding and possible tornadoes.
“Cheyenne, Wyoming, saw snow totals of 25.8 inches this weekend — smashing a previous 2-day record held since 1979…”
“The melting of the world’s mountain glaciers could be releasing damaging carbon emissions into the atmosphere and accelerating climate change, researchers have said.
“Experts believe the “unexpected form of climate feedback” means global warming is driving glacier loss and “rapidly” recycling carbon in rivers.”
“Earth had its coolest February in seven years due to La Niña in the tropical Pacific Ocean that dropped temperatures as much as 3.2F below the average in parts of the world, study reveals…
“The average temperature in the US last month was 30.6 F, or 3.2°F below the 20th century average – but December 2020-February 2021 was the 8th warmest winter in 142 years.”
You can read the previous ‘Climate’ thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with an ‘Economic’ thread.
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