“Cyclone Batsirai: Whole villages swept away in Madagascar. At least 10 people have been killed and nearly 50,000 displaced after Cyclone Batsirai brought strong winds and rain to Madagascar on Saturday evening.
“Batsirai – the second major storm in two weeks – made landfall on the east coast, with gusts of 235km/h (146mph) and high waves hitting coastal areas.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-60264389
“Malawi Loses 30% of Its Electricity to Tropical Storm Ana.
“The Department of Disaster Management Affairs says in Malawi, the storm killed 32 people and displaced 188,000 from their homes in 17 districts. Meanwhile, donor partners and well-wishers including United Nations agencies in Malawi have started providing aid to victims.”
https://www.voanews.com/a/malawi-loses-30-of-its-electricity-to-tropical-storm-ana-/6429686.html
“At least 138 people have been left homeless in KwaZulu-Natal [South Africa] after strong winds and heavy downpours lead to localised flooding in two municipalities.
“Disaster management teams in the province said they were left homeless when their homes were flooded.”
https://ewn.co.za/2022/02/06/floods-leave-at-least-138-people-homeless-in-kwazulu-natal
“At least 306,358 animals, including cattle, goats, sheep and donkeys have been killed by drought in Tanzania in the past five months, a cabinet minister has said.
“Mashimba Ndaki, minister for livestock and fisheries, said an assessment conducted by experts from the ministry in January showed that the animals were killed…”
“Forest fire rages across Kenya national park…
““It is on the grasses, it is spreading and very windy,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, explaining that he was not authorised to speak to media. “We have mobilized the community and staff around and today they have really tried their best… it is only that they were overwhelmed.””
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1550958/forest-fire-rages-across-kenya-national-park
“Charity workers delivering Scottish Government funded aid to families in flood-hit South Sudan have told of their shock at the scale of suffering.
“The flood-hit communities are struggling to find enough to eat, with water lilies sometimes the only food source they can find… More than two million people are at risk of famine.”
“Jujube supplies suffer as last year’s heatwave takes toll [Pakistan]…
” Season for new jujube began in the middle of January, but this year market arrivals remain slow as last September’s heatwave damaged the fruit in its early flowering stage. Traders and contractors also pin the low yields on water shortage.”
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/931148-jujube-supplies-suffer-as-last-year-s-heatwave-takes-toll
“Hundreds of heron birds were found dead after heavy rains and hailstorms lashed Shantivan area of Barhampur, Nagaon in Assam. A coldwave has gripped northeast India with reports of heavy rainfall and hailstorm in some parts of Assam.”
https://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/heron-birds-found-dead-after-hailstorm-in-assam-561291.html
“Historic snowstorms in Bhutan and in the Indian State of Himachal Pradesh.
“Accumulations in some places were over 50cm and snow also fell at unusually low elevations. According to locals,the former Bhutanese winter capital Punakha (1250m) had its first snow (5cm) since 1958.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1490051875944779778
“Perth’s record summer hot streak continues as city tops 40C for thirteenth day.
“Perth may only be five days into February but the city has nearly doubled the previous record of seven days over 40C during summer. Saturday marks the thirteenth day the city has sweltered through extreme temperatures this summer, hitting 40C at 11:30am.”
“‘Hellish night’: homes lost in Western Australia bushfires as specialist crews called in from interstate…
“Fires remained out of control on Sunday afternoon and had burned more than 5,000 hectares. Dawson said 210 firefighters had been battling the fires at Denmark and Bridgetown on Sunday.”
“Broome’s rough sleepers battle through town’s record rainfall…
“With many of their normal haunts ruled out due to the unrelenting rain, Mr Lawford said he and many others had slept outside during last weekend’s damaging storms.
“”We sleep with no rugs, all our clothes are fully wet,” Mr Lawford said.”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-06/broome-rainfall-a-challenge-for-rough-sleepers/100805532
“Record-breaking rains bring the Kimberley [Northern Territories] to life…
“As the rain fills up local creeks, banks are spilled creating a film of water over the sand plains. “This is when insect abundance goes through the roof. The frogs and geckos are all out feeding on termites and the purple-crowned fairy-wrens are having a bumper breeding season because of the extra food resources.”
“South Island weather stations [New Zealand] record 1 metre of rain – more than Christchurch’s annual rainfall.
“According to NIWA Weather, the highest reading was taken at Tuke at Tuke Hut in Westland, which recorded a whopping 1177mm [46.3 inches]. Mt Philistine in the Arthur’s Pass National Park recorded 1125mm and Cropp at Waterfall had 1054mm from the early hours of Wednesday to Friday night.”
“Whanganui [North Island, NZ] has had its wettest February day since records began.
“The city’s dry spell was well and truly snapped this weekend, with 82.6 millimetres of rain falling at Whanganui Airport between 9am Saturday and 9am Sunday, according to Metservice meteorologist Dan Corrigan.”
“Heavy snow has been buffeting wide swathes of Japan, with some areas observing record accumulations. Weather officials are warning of possible transport system disruptions and snow-related accidents.
“The Japan Meteorological Agency says a wintry pressure pattern and a cold air mass have been bringing snow to places along the Sea of Japan and elsewhere.”
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220207_01/
“Ecuador capital flooding toll raised to 28…
“Rain that drenched Quito for 17 straight hours caused flooding and surges of mud that damaged roads, agricultural areas, clinics, schools, a police station and an electric power substation.”
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220207-ecuador-capital-flooding-toll-raised-to-28
“Brazil hit by extreme weather conditions causing deaths, evacuations.
“In recent months, Brazil has been hit by the worst drought in over ninety years to severe rainstorms that have caused nearly 100 deaths and 150,000 evacuations… The intensity of extreme weather events will increase and their impacts are being enhanced by human action, Santos said.”
https://www.laprensalatina.com/brazil-hit-by-extreme-weather-conditions-causing-deaths-evacuations/
“Record heat, forest fires in Colombia’s Amazon in January…
“”Thousands of hectares of Amazon jungle, cut in recent months, are on fire today.
“”These massive fires are now being felt as far away as Bogota,” FCDS director Rodrigo Botero warned on Twitter.”
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-forest-colombia-amazon-january.html
“A third of Americans are already facing above-average warming.
“The US as a whole has heated up over the past century… and swathes of the US west, northeast and upper midwest – representing more than 124.6 million people – have recorded soaring increases since federal government temperature records began in 1895.”
“Blizzard-like ‘bomb cyclones’ get boost from warming oceans.
“The warming of ocean waters through climate change creates ideal conditions for more “bomb cyclone” events like the one that battered the Northeast with extreme winter weather in late January, experts say.”
“Super trawler spills 100,000 dead fish off French coast.
“An investigation has been ordered after the world’s second-biggest trawler shed more than 100,000 dead fish into the Atlantic, sparking claims they were dumped deliberately… France’s maritime minister Annick Girardin has described the images as “shocking”…”
“A continued shortage of rainfall in Spain has led to a dramatic period of drought in the country. With temperatures reported to be rising again this week, the outlook is looking bleak for the moment.
“…the Spanish water reserve is in an extremely poor condition, with the country’s reservoirs currently reported to be holding around only 44.8 per cent of their capacity.”
“Nine killed in three days after more than 100 avalanches hit Austria
“Authorities dub situation ‘unprecedented’ as heavy snowfall followed by warm weather makes for dangerous conditions… Most of the avalanches hit the western Tyrol region and Friday alone saw five fatalities.”
“Over 143 houses remain submerged amid flash floods in Russia’s southern region…
“Snow, wet snow has continued in the Krasnodar Region since the end of January. Snow levels have reached an almost all time high of over one meter in some settlements. Now, snow is actively melting.”
https://tass.com/russia/1398635
“Mammoth tusk mining in the Arctic, and the price of ‘ethical ivory’…
“As the ground melts, the remains of the ancient beasts are easier to prise from their icy graves. This has created a “mammoth rush” over the past decade, explains Zara Bending of the Centre for Environmental Law of Macquarie University.”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2022-02-06/woolly-mammoth-mining-siberia-ethical-ivory/100763684
“The Polar Vortex starts to behave strangely, cooling down to record levels and going into overdrive…
“This is not without consequences, as it will strengthen the polar circulation into late winter and will be ready to continue into early Spring, influencing the weather in the United States and Europe.”
“Climate change is altering the smell of snow…
“Climate change is effecting the way snow smells, said Parisa A. Ariya, a chemist and chair of the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department at McGill University. As the ground and air get warmer, that encourages the circulation — and intensity — of the odor molecules.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/02/05/snow-smell-climate-change/
You can read the previous ‘Climate’ thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with an ‘Economic’ thread.
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