“In yet another sign of the devastating effects of the expansive drought in the western United States, Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, has dropped to its lowest level since it was filled in the late 1930s.
“Early Thursday, the water level fell to 1,071.48 feet. The previous lowest level had been 1,071.61 feet on July 1, 2016.
“”We expect it to keep declining until November,” Bureau of Reclamation spokeswoman Patti Aaron told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.”
“Record heat forecast to bake Southwest next week, amid worsening drought…
“The heat wave, predicted to last many days, will only intensify record-setting drought conditions plaguing many locations in the West.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/06/10/record-heat-wave-southwest/
“The area around Arizona’s wildfires is so dry, firefighters’ heavy equipment is causing small flareups.
“Two massive wildfires in eastern Arizona continued to spread Wednesday… As of Wednesday night, the Telegraph Fire has burned nearly 85,000 acres and the Mescal Fire has scorched more than 70,000 acres…”
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/09/us/arizona-wildfires-telegraph-mescal-wednesday/index.html
““Unheard of”: drought, dry conditions in North Dakota leading to some culling of herds…
“Kyle Shively has already culled half of his herd. “This is a very stressful time…”” …He says that some farmers may “get by” by the summer, by they will have to buy a lot of hay which will not be cheap.”
https://www.rfdtv.com/story/44067443/unheard-of-drought-dry-conditions-leading-to-some-culling-herd
“The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says the heatwave that began June 3rd is of historic duration and intensity so early in the season.
“Records were set in the St. Cloud area on June 4th and 5th, beating old records that had been in place for close to or over 100 years.”
“The Mid-South is already flooded. Now, the highest risk for excessive rainfall is predicted — again…
“Rainfall accumulations of 8 to 10 inches were seen Tuesday across the region, and some areas may have gotten more. Some parts of Arkansas have estimated a foot of rain over the last few days, and flash flooding has been significant.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/09/weather/mid-south-arkansas-flooding-rainfall-forecast/index.html
“The Mexican air force has been assigned a new mission: seeding clouds in an effort to combat the prolonged drought.
“The drought has affected as much as 85% of Mexico’s territory since July last year, leaving large reservoirs at exceptionally low levels, straining water resources for drinking, farming, and irrigation.”
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/air-force-has-a-new-mission-seed-clouds-and-combat-drought/
“Historic drought threatens Brazil’s economy…
““We’re facing a ‘dry season’ that in reality is going to last one-and-a-half to two years,” said Pedro Luiz Cortes, a professor at the University of Sao Paulo’s Institute for Energy and the Environment.”
https://phys.org/news/2021-06-historic-drought-threatens-brazil-economy.html
“Slash-and-burn clearing nears Indigenous Xingu park as Brazil’s fire season ignites…
“…data show forest loss in the park increased in 2020 as fires, often associated with deforestation for agriculture, consumed portions of its old growth forest. More recently, satellite data and imagery show clearing encroaching closer and closer to the park – including right along its border – as well as fires starting to break out within the park itself.”
“See images of the damage caused by rain in Santa Catarina [Eastern Brazil]….
“The dawn of Wednesday (9) was marked by a lot of rain in Santa Catarina. During the morning, the municipality of Canelinha, in Greater Florianópolis, registered the highest volume of rain in the state in the last 24 hours, with 288 mm [11.3 inches].”
https://ndmais.com.br/tempo/veja-imagens-dos-estragos-causados-pela-chuva-em-santa-catarina/
“A perfectly preserved ancient box of Viking treasures has been discovered after a Norwegian glacier partially melted.
“The 500-year-old wooden box was found containing remains of beeswax candles, which the Vikings would have used to find their farms, according to archaeologists.”
“Damage again after thunderstorms with heavy rain in Saxony [Germany]…
“Local storms again caused flooding in the region around Döbeln, in Glauchau and Meerane on Thursday. In Glauchau, Meerane and in the community of Schönberg, the volunteer fire brigades were on constant duty to clear sludge and to pump empty cellars that had filled up.”
“May 2021 in Russia was the 2nd warmest May on record after May 2020.
“Highest anomalies were in the Volga Region (as much as +6C above the 61-90 baseline still in use in Russia).Only few areas were colder than average.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1403052777035730946
“Forest fires ravage Jerusalem and environs, heightened by heat and winds…
“Multiple firefighting squads are battling out-of-control forest fires outside of Jerusalem on Wednesday, due to the hot and dry June weather combined with strong winds.”
https://www.jns.org/forest-fires-ravage-jerusalem-and-environs-heightened-by-heat-and-winds/
“Disease caused by contaminated water are on rise in the Kurdistan Region’s Sulaimani province as the city begins to feel the impacts of drought on the city, health officials warned this week.
“Dr. Sabah Hawrami, head of Sulaimani Directorate, in a press conference on Wednesday warned of an increase in cases of diarrhea among the city’s residents…””
“Severe drought threatens three million Afghans.
“Time is running out for more than three million Afghans likely to be acutely affected by a drought this year. The looming crisis comes on top of an already critical situation in Afghanistan, with worsening conflict and severe socio-economic impacts of Covid-19.”
https://www.nrc.no/news/2021/june/severe-drought-threatens-three-million-afghans/
“Rapid deforestation puts Pakistan’s climate policies in jeopardy…”
“Health specialists encouraged Lahoris [Pakistan] to remain inside and not to get out for any superfluous explanation as Lahore heatwave hits 43°C [109.4F] on Wednesday.
“As indicated by the Met Office, the temperature was 43°C yet the real feel index put it at 47°C.”
https://www.bolnews.com/latest/2021/06/lahore-heatwave-hits-43c-with-lahoris-asked-to-remain-indoor/
“Up to two billion people in southeast Asia can face food and water shortages even as the the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) mountain ranges lose up to two-thirds of its ice by 2100, a United Nations-backed research flagged.
“The HKH region, often referred to as the ‘Third Pole’… contains the world’s third-largest storage of frozen water after the Antarctica and Arctic.”
“Uttarakhand flood was caused by rare rock and glacier avalanche.
“The 2021 flood in Uttarakhand, India, that resulted in over 200 dead and missing was the result of an avalanche that dropped about 27 million square metres of rock and glacier ice from the nearby Ronti mountain.”
“May records India’s second highest rainfall in 121 years [of records]…
“May received the second highest rainfall in 121 years, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its monthly report Thursday, attributing two back-to-back cyclones and western disturbances for the record precipitation.”
“Aerial photographs show Exmouth flooding [Western Australia] after almost a year’s worth of rain in a night…
“Minilya-Exmouth Road — the only road in and out of the townsite — became close to being inaccessible overnight due to the water and debris after 173mm [6.8 inches] of rain was dumped onto the red dirt. The majority of the rain fell in the early hours of Thursday morning…”
“A man has died in flood waters in south-eastern Victoria, Australia, after heavy rain and flooding swept across the Gippsland region with the SES [emergency services] stating it was “the busiest 24-hour period” in the service’s history.
“Police confirmed on Thursday evening that a man, thought to be in his 60s, was found dead at Woodside in South Gippsland.”
“Fainting, pollution, and heat stroke: how the climate crisis threatens the Tokyo Olympics…
“The climate crisis will impact nearly every event at the games, which are being hosted in Tokyo, a city that’s already experiencing heating more acutely than most places on Earth, according to new report from BASIS, the British Association for Sustainable Sport.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/climate-crisis-tokyo-olympics-ioc-b1863810.html
“Ecosystem changes could be playing a part in the ongoing deaths of gray whales along the west coast of North America…
“The gray whale deaths have been prominent in the San Franciso Bay Area, where The Marine Mammal Center (TMMC) told Newsweek it has responded to 13 incidents so far this year—more than in the entire years of 2019 and 2020.”
https://www.newsweek.com/scientists-explain-reason-unusual-whale-deaths-1598933
“Salmon face extinction throughout the US west. Blame these four dams…
“…four towering and closely spaced dams in eastern Washington state… act as massive hurdles to the salmon’s migration. Today, experts have voiced concern that the salmon are headed toward a point of no return.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/09/salmon-future-us-dams
“Earth’s largest water reservoirs: How much ice are they losing?
“…we can say with confidence that sea level will continue to rise (faster) in the future and that our projections are conservative estimates. Indeed, satellite observations that measure the changing height (altimetry) and changing mass (gravimetry) of ice sheets are tracking the worst-case predictions from IPCC’s fifth report.”
“Atmospheric CO2 Just Hit a Peak Not Seen on Earth in 4 Million Years.
“Despite slim hopes that global shutdowns during the pandemic might bring respite from the climate crisis, yet more evidence confirms that no such silver lining exists… May saw the highest levels of CO2 so far in 2021, with the concentration averaging 419.13 parts per million (ppm)…”
https://www.sciencealert.com/carbon-dioxide-just-hit-a-peak-not-seen-on-earth-in-4-million-years
“In the world of crops, angst over the weather has reached a fever pitch.
“Global inventories are shrinking and demand is on a tear as drought plagues farms from the U.S. and Brazil to Russia. As a result, every rain shower and dry spell is coming under extreme scrutiny. Grain futures touched near-decade highs last month…”
You can read the previous ‘Climate’ thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with an ‘Economic’ thread.
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