“Worst melt year on record for Swiss glaciers, data shows.
“Swiss glaciers have recorded their worst melt rate since records began more than a century ago, losing 6% of their remaining volume this year or nearly double the previous record of 2003, monitoring body GLAMOS said on Wednesday.
“The melt was so extreme this year that bare rock that had remained buried for millenia re-emerged at one site while bodies and even a plane lost elsewhere in the Alps decades ago were recovered. Other small glaciers all but vanished.”
“Germany lost one of its few remaining glaciers this summer [only four left now] as exceedingly warm weather ate away Alpine ice at a faster pace than feared, a scientific report released today showed.
“The Bavarian Academy of Sciences said the state’s Southern Schneeferner had lost its official status as a glacier due to rapid melting of its once sprawling ice sheet.”
https://www.rte.ie/news/environment/2022/0926/1325608-germany-glaciers-latest/
“Unexplained leaks in two Russian gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea are spewing out greenhouse gas emissions, raising fears that the disruption could cause a climate calamity – although to what extent is still unclear.
“… since both Nord Stream pipelines contained mostly methane, “the potential for a massive and highly damaging emission event is very worrisome”, McCabe said.”
“Three people killed by lightning in Bulgarian capital.
“More than 800 lightning have hit Sofia in less than an hour on Tuesday evening, according to meteorologists, while heavy rain flooded underpasses in the capital’s centre and cut electricity in some of Sofia’s suburbs and nearby villages.”
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/three-people-killed-by-lightning-bulgarian-capital-2022-09-27/
“Man dead after record-breaking storm causes flooding in southeastern Spain. Storm hammered Spanish region with lightning, strong winds and record-breaking rain overnight…
“Spain’s meteorological service AEMET said up to 40.6 mm (1.5 inches) of rain fell in just 10 minutes — the most intense period of precipitation in Murcia since measurements began.”
“It’s official: 2022 has been Malaga’s hottest summer ever since records began.
“The upward trend is clear: the world gets warmer every year and Malaga is no exception… Aemet have just confirmed it: the average maximum temperature in the months of June, July and August was 31.8C [98.2F], the highest since records began in 1943.”
https://www.surinenglish.com/malaga/summer-temperatures-20220926111513-nt.html
“Drought prompts Portugal to restrict water use at more hydropower dams…
“Heat and little rain have left around 40% of mainland Portugal in extreme drought while the rest of the territory is classed as facing a severe drought, according to the Portuguese Institute of Meteorology (IPMA)… Now, a total of 15 dams across the country [out of a total of 60] have been ordered to temporarily suspend their electricity production.”
“Underwater heat ‘inferno’ ravages Mediterranean corals.
“In the temperate shallows of the Mediterranean, once-vibrant red and purple coral forests that provide a crucial haven for biodiversity now stand bleached and brittle, transformed into skeletons by record summer temperatures, scientists say… Dive surveys just two months earlier found an intact landscape, lush with violet-fringed fans of gorgonian coral.”
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220927-underwater-heat-inferno-ravages-mediterranean-corals
“23 dead, 104 communities sacked, 116,084 displaced as floods ravage Benue [Nigeria]…
“Executive Secretary of Benue State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, Dr. Emmanuel Shior, made the disclosure, yesterday, during his update on the flood situation in the state… Shior explained that responders from the agency were still profiling more victims, lamenting that the state government was already overwhelmed by the situation.”
“No fewer than 18,406 persons have been displaced by flood in 14 local government areas of Borno [Niger], according to the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA)…
““Most of the displaced persons are seeking shelter in primary schools in neighbouring communities. They are now in need of shelter kits, mats, blankets and food items,” she said.”
https://gazettengr.com/floods-displaced-18406-persons-in-borno-sema/
“Drought is killing Kenya’s endangered wildlife.
“Kenya’s worst drought in four decades has killed almost 2% of the world’s rarest zebra in three months, and 25 times more elephants than normal over the same period. It is starving Kenya’s famed wildlife of normal food sources out in the open and driving them into deadly conflict with people as they roam wider…”
https://wtvbam.com/2022/09/27/drought-is-killing-kenyas-endangered-wildlife/
“Yemen Floods Killed 63; Affecting 231,000 People…
“The report stated that about 5,000 families were affected in the Marib governorate alone after the floods destroyed the camps for the displaced, while more than 28,000 families were distributed among 13 governorates, the majority of which are under the control of the Iranian-backed Houthis.”
https://www.yemenonline.info/special-reports/6728
“Is Flooded Pakistan on The Verge of a Water Crisis?
“…Just like the floods have made thousands silent forever, it is not far away that water scarcity will be another grim reaper. Adding fuel to the fire, the present political leadership appears to be more concerned about conspiracies than predicaments of poor impoverished civilians.”
https://www.thefridaytimes.com/2022/09/27/is-flooded-pakistan-on-the-verge-of-a-water-crisis/
“Most flood-hit families sleeping in tents as winter sets in [Pakistan]…
“As more than half (54 per cent) of the families hit by massive floods in the country are sleeping outside, in tents or makeshift shelters, often no more than flimsy plastic sheets, the catastrophe has rendered around 3.6 million workers jobless, badly impacting the livelihood of more than 33m people.”
https://www.dawn.com/news/1712362/most-flood-hit-families-sleeping-in-tents-as-winter-sets-in
“Over 10,000 evacuated as Yamuna [river, Delhi, India] flows above danger mark.
“The river’s levels crossed the danger mark of 205.33mm early on Tuesday, and jumped to 206.38 metres by 7pm, a spate largely due to an unusually sustained spell of rain in northwest India, including Haryana and Delhi… To be sure, it is fairly unusual for the river to swell this much this deep into September.”
“Brutal temperature anomalies in most of China and Mongolia which is living an incredibly hot September.
“Today 27th September the temperature is reaching 37C [98.6F] again in NW China while the Mongolian highlands reached 30.7C at Khovsgol. Record heat will persist and spread into October.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1574695702743191555
“Fresh rain warnings as BoM says flooding in NSW ‘to continue for months’…
“Jane Golding, a senior forecaster …warned people needed to be alert… “We’ll see a pretty similar summer to what we saw last year, more wet days than normal, [but] because the catchments are so saturated they’re going to flood a lot more easily than last year.””
“Sixth heat record of September set [Kahului]…
“A sweltering stretch in Kahului rolled on as temperatures reached 92 degrees on Monday, tying the record set on the same day in 2014 and 2020, according to the National Weather Service… Kahului also set a record on Sunday with temperatures of 95 degrees…”
https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2022/09/sixth-heat-record-of-september-set/
“Three fourth of USA are with summer like conditions today. A Harsh heat wave is underway in the West with peaks of 112F/44C yesterday in California and Arizona.
“Today temperatures are well into the 90s (32C-34C) in many stations of Utah,Idaho and Oregon. Tomorrow will be similar.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1574874316356853769
“Spokane [Washington] sets heat record for latest 90-degree day.
“In 141 years of record keeping, Spokane had never reached 90 degrees this late into the year – until Tuesday. Before then, the farthest into the calendar year the temperature reached 90 degrees or higher was Sept. 25, 1952, when it was 93, said Miranda Cote, meteorologist at the National Weather Service Spokane.”
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/sep/27/spokane-sets-heat-record-for-latest-90-degree-day/
“How New Mexico’s Largest Wildfire Set Off a Drinking Water Crisis.
“Instead of replenishing reservoirs, the downpours are flooding a burn scar left by the blaze known as the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak fire, releasing contaminants into private wells and overwhelming Las Vegas’s main water supply with ashy sludge.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/26/us/new-mexico-las-vegas-fire-water.html
“To save water in Texas, these nonprofits are paying farmers to leave it in reservoirs.
“As Texas faces an increasingly fraught environmental future from climate change, a new approach to conservation is growing… some conservation organizations, mostly nonprofits, and agencies are stepping up to help conserve water by using a new strategy — paying farmers to leave the water in the ground and consume more sustainably.”
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/09/26/water-trades-texas-climate-change-drought/
“Hurricane Ian: Cuba left without power as intensifying storm heads to Florida.
“Cuba’s electricity grid has collapsed, leaving the entire country without power in the wake of Hurricane Ian, as residents in Florida braced for the arrival of what is expected to be a catastrophic Category 4 storm. The western end of Cuba was hit by violent winds and flooding on Tuesday…”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/27/hurricane-ian-florida-tampa-cuba
“Crazy amounts of water spouts spotted across New York.
“The weather has been crazy over the last 48 hours and that has caused an abnormal amount of water spouts on lakes across New York State. According to Mike Chejka from WIVB, there were 46 confirmed waterspout sightings along the two lakes since Sunday afternoon. 46!!”
https://wyrk.com/water-spouts-new-york/
“Windows were broken in several homes during a piteraq in Tasiilaq, Greenland, on the night of Sunday. A total of 47 residents were evacuated.
“Piteraq is a gravity-driven wind in Greenland, which blows down from the high ice plateaus and down towards the east coast. Material damage to homes and boats is also reported. The wind is icy cold and strong… in Greenlandic piteraq means “that which attacks you”.”
https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/47-evacuated-greenland
“Droughts, Ukraine war push global grain stocks toward worrying decade low.
“The world is heading toward the tightest grain inventories in years despite the resumption of exports from Ukraine, as the shipments are too few and harvests from other major crop producers are smaller than initially expected, according to grain supply and crop forecast data.
“Poor weather in key agricultural regions from the United States to France and China is shrinking grain harvests and cutting inventories…”
You can read the previous “Climate” thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with an “Economic” thread.
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