“Droughts Hurt World’s Largest Economies.
“Severe droughts across the Northern Hemisphere—stretching from the farms of California to waterways in Europe and China—are further snarling supply chains and driving up the prices of food and energy, adding pressure to a global trade system already under stress.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/droughts-hurt-worlds-largest-economies-11661087554
“The world’s cotton supply keeps shrinking, hit by drought and heat.
“Extreme weather is wreaking havoc upon virtually all of the world’s largest cotton suppliers… This confluence of extreme weather events brought on by climate change has sent cotton prices soaring by as much as 30%.”
“Chinese farmers bid to save crops amid scorching drought.
“Drought conditions across a swath of China, from the densely-populated east across central farming provinces into eastern Tibet, have “significantly increased”, the national weather agency said on Saturday… Local authorities have been ordered to “use all available water sources” to supply households and livestock, the weather agency said.”
“11 out of the top 10 highest daily mean temperatures in Chongqing are now set in 2022.
“Just unfathomable.
“For reference, the *average* temperature in Chongqing yesterday was 38.9℃ / 102℉, marking it the hottest day in history; the high, a new record, was 43.7℃ /110.7℉.”
https://twitter.com/FansOfStorms/status/1560920627007078402
“Chongqing battles relentless wildfires amid heatwave.
“Several wildfires have been reported in mountain and forest areas in the Jiangjin, Dazu, Tongliang, and Banan districts of southwest China’s Chongqing since Thursday, all due to high temperatures and drought. The local government has dispatched more than 5,000 personnel…”
http://www.ecns.cn/cns-wire/2022-08-22/detail-ihccfwfs9797212.shtml
“Yesterday 21 August 82 more heat records were broken in China, 56 which for any month (list in the thread below).
“Many stations have recorded their top 20/25/30 hottest days of the past 70 years, all in the past weeks. This heat wave overtakes anything seen previously worldwide.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1561624216469774337
“Taiwan 1,2,3..! For the 3rd day in a row Taiwan marked a national record with the temperature jumping to 41.6C [107F] at Fuyuan.
“If the value is confirmed, it would be the highest temperature in Taiwanese history.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1561307129306222592
“Japan weather agency triples downpour warnings. Sea surface temperatures – one of the possible factors behind the heavy rains – are expected to remain high through September…
““There’s no doubt that unusually heavy rain has been falling in many parts of the nation,” a JMA official said.”
https://asianews.network/japan-weather-agency-triples-downpour-warnings/
“New Zealand authorities warn more heavy rain to hit flooded South Island.
“New Zealand has maintained a state of emergency in parts of its flood-battered South Island on Sunday as authorities weighed damage in the region hardest hit by four days of torrential rain… Dr Daniel Kingston, a senior geography lecturer at the University of Otago, said climate change is likely playing a role…”
“After breaking a 13-year-old temperature record for August on Thursday it took just two days for Whanganui [New Zealand] to break it again.
“Whanganui reached 21.4C [70.5F] around 2.30pm on Saturday – 0.9C higher than the record set on Thursday. Previous to Thursday, the August record was 20.1C set in 2009.”
“As Alaska Warms, Fires Burn Over (and Under) More Wild Land. Lightning storms, drought and thawing tundra are making fires more destructive.
“In the vast wilderness, firefighting is a major challenge… “This place felt like a war zone,” said Don DeBlauw, 73, a retired construction worker who evacuated from his home…”
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/20/us/alaska-fires-climate.html
“Canada is witnessing more thunderstorms than ever before…
“In Canada, the new normal for yearly insured catastrophic losses has reached $2 billion — a significant increase from the $422 million per year between 1983 and 2008 — and a significant chunk of that is from thunderstorm-related severe and extreme weather.”
https://bayobserver.ca/canada-is-witnessing-more-thunderstorms-than-ever-before/
“Canadian bee researchers fear climate change’s effects on wild bees…
“With climate change also comes severe weather events like frequent storms, flooding and hailstorms, which can kill insects… Last winter, Canada had its largest honeybee colony loss in the past 20 years, according to preliminary data.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/bees-climate-change-1.6556475
“US Crop Tour Set to Kick Off With World’s Food Reserves at Stake… Wild weather and war are backdrop of four-day Midwest survey…
“Farmers from Nebraska to Ohio are nearing the final stretch of one of the most turbulent growing seasons ever, with the world now nervously waiting to see if US corn and soybean harvests will be big enough to revive supplies diminished by war and weather.”
“Comin’ in hot: Boise [Idaho] hit 100 degrees again on Sunday, breaking this weather record.
“Boise… ticked up to 100 degrees late Sunday afternoon to make 2022 the year with the most days — 21 — at 100 or more in the history of the City of Trees… A weather record like this has been in the cards for a while. Boise hit 100 degrees on 18 occasions in 2021, 16 times in 2006 and 2007, and on 14 in 2018, 2015 and 2013.”
https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/weather-news/article264651749.html
“Would you rip up your lawn for $6 a square foot? Welcome to drought-stricken California…
“Grass is the single largest irrigated “crop” in America, surpassing corn and wheat, a frequently-cited study from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found. It noted by the early 2000s, turfgrass, mostly in front lawns, spanned about 63,000 square miles, an area larger than the state of Georgia.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/19/us/california-drought-lawns/index.html
“Badger populations in some areas [of the UK] could soon be extinct because of the drought, campaigners warn.
“Daytime sightings of the nocturnal mammal have risen as they travel further afield to find food and water. Harder ground has made it difficult to dig up earthworms, their main diet, the Badger Trust said. Many have died of dehydration and hunger.”
“Despite it being only August, leaves have started falling in what experts term a “false autumn”, as heatwaves and drought push Britain’s trees into survival mode.
“In events made more likely by climate breakdown, parts of the country have experienced the driest July since 1935, with extreme heat bringing record-breaking temperatures in excess of 40C.”
“Millions of properties in the UK are at heightened risk of subsidence due to this summer’s record heatwave and drought, insurers, surveyors and geologists have warned.
“Insurance companies have already seen a significant spike in claims relating to subsidence, and the areas affected by the problem are growing…”
“The cost of electricity in Belgium reached a new record on Sunday, thanks to a lack of wind and the expectation of high temperatures next week…
“Record gas prices have been driven ever higher as several French nuclear power stations are currently not operating and water levels are low, causing a drop in the production of hydroelectric power stations.”
https://www.brusselstimes.com/276092/belgian-electricity-price-hits-new-high
“Germany’s glaciers could disappear in the next 15 years, expert warns…
“One German glacier, called ‘Schneeferner”, is located on top of the Zugspitze, the country’s highest mountain. Since records began in 1901, never has the snow depth on the Zugspitze been so low in July, according to the environmental research station ‘Schneefernerhaus’, which is located on the glacier.”
“Record rainfall drenches western Austria as firefighters tackle torrential flooding.
“Austria experienced severe flash floods over the weekend. Meteorologists reported record amounts of rainfall in the western region over the past 24 hours [212mm/8.3 inches at Bregenz]. Places most affected include the mountainous area of Voralberg.”
“Sunken WW2 German warships resurface in Danube River.
“Europe’s worst drought in years has pushed the mighty river Danube to one of its lowest levels in almost a century, exposing the hulks of dozens of explosives-laden German warships sunk during WW2 near Serbia’s river port town of Prahovo.”
https://www.trtworld.com/europe/sunken-ww2-german-warships-resurface-in-danube-river-59938
“Lake in Zagreb’s Bundek Park Dries Up Amid Long Period of Drought.
“As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the ongoing and long period of drought that has affected Croatia and the rest of Europe this summer has started to leave serious consequences on agricultural crops and other forms of greenery…”
https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/65076-bundek-park
“‘Spanish Stonehenge’ emerges from drought-hit dam.
“Officially known as the Dolmen of Guadalperal but dubbed the Spanish Stonehenge, the circle of dozens of megalithic stones is believed to date back to 5000 BC. It currently sits fully exposed in one corner of the Valdecanas reservoir, in the central province of Caceres, where authorities say the water level has dropped to 28% of capacity.”
https://www.euronews.com/2022/08/20/us-europe-weather-spain-dolmen
“Portugal wildfires: Blaze threatens several villages. A wildfire in the Vila Real region in northern Portugal could spread to several nearby villages. More than 300 firefighters are tackling the blaze, backed by five fire-fighting aircraft.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-62627189
“Algeria’s Unesco-listed El Kala nature reserve damaged by forest fires.
“El Kala National Park and Biosphere Reserve was recognised by Unesco in 1990 as a “mosaic of marine, dune, lake and forest ecosystems”. A national park since 1983, the mountainous and heavily forested coastal area also features a network of wetlands…”
“Food fears grow as African floods fail to subside… Africa could face increased food insecurity and an unprecedented rural-urban migration crisis if climate change-induced flooding persists, environmentalists say…
“Alfa adds that the impact of flooding in Ghana is devastating, with fatalities being recorded in many parts of the country.”
https://www.thecable.ng/food-fears-grow-as-african-floods-fail-to-subside
“Sudan braces for more flooding as Nile hits highest levels since 1946… Official warns of ‘unprecedented’ danger facing dams in the country…
“Sudan is bracing for more flooding this week, days after more than 75 people were killed and tens of thousands of homes destroyed by heavy rainfall and river floods across the vast Afro-Arab nation, authorities said.”
“Number of Somalis affected by drought rises to 7.8 mln: UN.
“More than 755,000 people have been internally displaced in Somalia because of the severe drought this year, bringing the total figure to 1 million people since January 2021 when the drought began, according to displacement figures released by the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR.”
https://english.news.cn/20220820/55b820e776c04b9fb28e25f501f15fae/c.html
“At least 20 dead in central Afghanistan floods.
“At least 20 people have been killed in flash floods in central Afghanistan over the last 48 hours, a disaster management official said on Monday, with heavy rain destroying thousands of homes and damaging agricultural land. The country has been reeling from natural disasters this year…”
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/least-20-dead-central-afghanistan-floods-2022-08-22/
“Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman claimed that Sindh [SE Pakistan] received 355mm [14 inches] rain during the past 24 hours shattering the August 31, 2011 rain record of 238mm [9.4 inches] rain as death toll from rain-related incidents reach 159.
“The minister claimed that some parts of the province also saw three-day nonstop rain.”
https://www.samaaenglish.tv/news/40014996
“Floods and landslides triggered by intense monsoon rains have killed at least 40 people in northern India over the last three days, and others are missing.
“Heavy rainfall overwhelmed hundreds of villages, as mud houses were swept away, roads were covered by water, bridges were destroyed, and rescuers raced to help stranded residents.”
“Death toll rises to 26 after flash flood in NW China’s Qinghai.
“The death toll has risen to 26 and five people remained unaccounted for as of 4:00 p.m. Sunday after heavy rain triggered a mountain torrent disaster in northwest China’s Qinghai Province, according to rescuers. So far, a total of 23 people have been rescued.”
You can read the previous ‘Climate’ thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with an ‘Economic’ thread.
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