“More and more records in Ukraine [the eleventh European nation to beat its national heat record this month] in this insane January.
“21.1C / 70F at Djankoi (yesterday) new Ukraine record for January.
“Today new records: 20.8C Simferopol; 18.7C Chernomorsky; 13.7C Svitlovodsk; 13.3C Myronivka; 11.2C Lubny. In Russia warmest January day ever at Anapa with 17.9C.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1616506857308168192
“Just incredible what Romania is living in this January. Another day with dozens of records smashed with a max. of 22.3C [72.1F] at Bechet.
“The capital Bucharest beat its record again with 20.9C; almost 4C more than anything seen in January before 2023.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1616375109995880451
“The Stormy South Wind broke Five Temperature Records in Bulgaria.
“The absolute records for high temperatures for January were improved yesterday in five stations… In Pleven yesterday the temperature reached 21.7 degrees Celsius [71.1F], and the old temperature record was 21.2 degrees and was from January 2002.”
“States of emergency have been declared in some Western Balkan cities as floods block roads and cut off power while two people in Montenegro and Serbia reportedly drowned.
“Heavy rain was blamed for at least two deaths in Western Balkan countries, while in some towns transportation was affected as local roads and bridges were damaged by flooding.”
https://balkaninsight.com/2023/01/20/floods-in-western-balkans-cause-huge-damage-drownings/
“Turkey hit by severe drought amid lack of rain.
“Turkey is experiencing a severe drought as dams around the country’s major cities have reached low levels amid a lack of rain and an unusually warm winter stemming from global climate change.”
https://www.thestatesman.com/world/turkey-hit-by-severe-drought-amid-lack-of-rain-1503148627.html
“Israel sees driest winter season in about 60 years.
“…this winter season raised the water levels of the Sea of Galilee by just 2 cm… Eyal Wiesel, a director at the hydrological service of the government’s Government Water and Sewage Authority, told Haaretz that 2 cm was the most modest rise since 1964 when national rainfall measurements began.”
“Climate Change is Fueling Conflict and Migration in Lake Chad…
“The report found that shrinking natural resources due to adverse weather are heightening tensions across communities and displacing people. It said that around 3 million people have been displaced and an additional 11 million were in need of humanitarian assistance.”
https://time.com/6248389/climate-change-conflict-migration-lake-chad/
“Heatwave claims seven lives in Northern Cape.
“Seven people in Kakamas in the Northern Cape have died due to heat stroke in the past few weeks. Another person is recovering in Kakamas hospital… Over the last few weeks, the Kakamas area experienced temperatures in the forties [104F+].”
https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/five-people-die-of-heatstroke-in-northern-cape/
“The Karee Dam in Calvinia in the Northern Cape has run dry, again.
“Officials from the Hantam Local Municipality said that reservoirs there were also without water. The town has been plagued by a severe drought and low rainfall over the past few years.”
https://ewn.co.za/2023/01/20/northern-cape-s-karee-dam-runs-dry-again
“Madagascar’s 1st tropical storm of season floods 700 houses, 1 missing – Preliminary reports.
“On Friday (Jan. 20), Madagascar’s city of Sambava was still under water… “Everything is flooded here, we ask the State to improve the draining of flood water, so that in case of rain, it can flow away. We’re living in misery right now,” farmer Jean Claude laments.”
“An avalanche occurred on the evening of January 17 on the road from Linzhi to Pai.
“The accident occurred at the exit of the Duoxiongla Tunnel, 8 [now 20] people have been killed and many are missing. The temperature in Tibet is abnormally high recently, the avalanche may be related to it.”
https://twitter.com/yangyubin1998/status/1616046897088856064
“Today 21 January with -50.6C [-59.1F] at Mohe, China witnessed again the lowest temperature ever recorded in a national station since February 1969. Record low temperatures set:
“-49.8C Huzhong; -47.9C Tahe; -46.9C Xinlin (tied); The cold air mass will move Southeast to Koreas and Japan.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1616618335122194434
“Philippines: Flooding ongoing across most of the country as of Jan. 20. Further adverse weather forecast…
“Officials could update and possibly extend the coverage of weather alerts over the coming days. Heavy rainfall Dec. 25-Jan. 11 resulted in flash flooding that killed at least 52 people across central and southern Philippines.”
“Kununurra resident takes 4,770km [nearly 3,000 miles] journey home from airport after record-breaking WA floods…
“Kununurra resident Chris English is currently taking a 64-hour scenic route from Broome to his home town in Western Australia’s Kimberley region, via the Northern Territory. That’s because the most direct route between the two communities was cut off by the state’s worst ever flood disaster earlier this month.”
“Bushfires May Follow Floods as Climate Chaos Grips Australia…
“Rain over the past three years has led to excessive plant growth that could pose a bushfire risk if conditions become more hot and dry, said Agus Santoso, a climate scientist at the University of New South Wales. Prolonged wet weather also makes it harder for so-called fuel reduction burning…”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bushfires-may-floods-climate-chaos-210001985.html
“Blazing heat again in Argentina today. Monthly records beaten at Oran with 44.8C / 112.6F (all time record of 45.0C was set 1 month ago!) and at Tucuman with 43.2C.
“Very hot also in Santiago del Estero,Rivadavia and La Rioja with temperatures of 44C/46C. A stifling hot summer so far…”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1616597784924229643
“Argentina: Thousands of cows killed by drought cause millions in losses in the sector.
“…some 26 million cows are at risk, half of the national total. If the deaths of these animals continue in Argentina, where meat exports contributed more than 3.4 billion dollars in July 2022, it could trigger a food problem at the national level, says farmer Pablo Giailevra.”
“Trees have long protected Sacramento [California]. Storms turned them to ‘carnage.’…
“More than 1,000 trees have come down in Sacramento since a major storm tore through Northern California on New Year’s Eve. Residents have reported more than 2,000 tree-related incidents in January, according to the city.”
“As the South reels from more than 30 tornadoes reported across the region last week, new climate data shows that the destructive storms may be on the rise…
“The devastation comes as scientists continue to study the effects of climate change on the production of tornadoes, and almost a year after the U.S. saw a record-breaking month of tornado activity, with over 200 storms.”
“London, Ontario: Where did winter go? A ‘startlingly mild’ January upends winter season and nature’s rhythms.
“A “startlingly mild” January has brought spring-like temperatures and hardly a trace of snow to the London region, leaving drivers relieved, children disappointed, and nature’s rhythms upended by the unusual weather.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/mild-winter-january-london-ontario-1.6715587
“Ice lies thick over Russian Arctic waters, but this winter might be record warm…
“According to the Russian meteorological service Roshydromet, the year 2022 was the second warmest on record in Russia. All of the country’s eight federal districts were abnormally warm. And the biggest deviations from the norm were found in the North.”
“With 76.5 mm of precipitation, the beginning of January (1-19.1.2023) has been the wettest on record in Helsinki Kaisaniemi. Records kept since 1845.”
https://twitter.com/mikarantane/status/1616375053297360896
“So we are back to lowest daily global sea ice extent, just thought you’d be interested…
“Fourth lowest daily Arctic extent and lowest daily Antarctic.
https://twitter.com/kevpluck/status/1616398883554488320
“Nearly two-thirds of coral reef sharks and rays face extinction…
“Many shark and ray species, ranging from apex predators to filter feeders, play a major role in these delicate ecosystems that cannot be filled by other species. By examining 134 species of sharks and rays, the experts found that 59 percent of coral reef shark and ray species worldwide are threatened with extinction.”
https://www.earth.com/news/nearly-two-thirds-of-coral-reef-sharks-and-rays-face-extinction/
“Stars are disappearing before our eyes – and faster than we thought.
“Light pollution doesn’t just spoil the view of the sky, it can also impact our health – and that of wildlife. This is because it disrupts the natural cyclical transition from sunlight to starlight that we and other organisms have evolved alongside – and sky glow is anything but natural.”
“Global cooperation needed on climate change as emissions, temperatures continue to rise after pandemic lull.
“There were hopes carbon emissions might have peaked as the Covid-19 pandemic’s disruptions led to large declines, but these have proved to be temporary… most major economies have failed to “build back better” and, today, the challenge of reducing emissions is bigger than ever.”
Also perhaps worth keeping an eye on: “‘Pandemic potential’: bird flu outbreaks fuelling chance of human spillover…
“Today, with parts of Europe and North America in the midst of the worst outbreak on record, a global cohort of researchers is keeping cautious watch amid concerns about the impact the disease could have on humans.”
“Fears of a potentially devastating bird flu pandemic were heightened today after a ‘worrisome’ outbreak among mink [in Spain].
“Top virologists from across the world have sounded the alarm after tests confirmed the H5N1 strain was spreading between mammals.”
“…the viruses detected at the mink farm are distinguished from all the clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 viruses characterised thus far in the avian population in Europe as they bear an uncommon mutation (T271A) in the PB2 gene, which may have public health implications.”
https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.3.2300001
“Three grizzly bears were euthanized in Montana after they became ill and tested positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus, according to the state’s Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
““The virus is spread from one bird to another,” Dr. Ramsey told CNN via email. “These mammals likely got infected from consuming carcasses of HPAI infected birds.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/18/us/montana-grizzly-bears-bird-flu/index.html
“The mass death of thousands of crabs and lobsters off the UK coast may have been caused by a disease previously unknown to science, a new government report has found…
“The report added: ‘Although there is no direct evidence of a novel pathogen – a disease or parasite – it would explain the key observations including mortality over a sustained period and along 70km of coastline, the unusual twitching of dying crabs and the deaths being predominantly crabs rather than other species.'”
You can read the previous “Climate” thread here. I’ll be back on Monday with an “Economic” thread.
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I was wondering when your searches would pick up on the long-running continuing bird flu reports.
It’s been around a few years now, most countries historically have been adept at swiftly containing such outbreaks in domesticated birds and other farm animals to prevent it from spreading to other species, including ourselves.
Like foot-and-mouth disease in hoofed animals. We try to “stamp it out” as soon as possible whenever we see it.
But not this time, its just not “burning out” 😭
That’s avian flu viruses for you, the longer time they have to circulate, the higher the chances of “jumping” species. But it’s not so much individual “jumps”, that is the worry.
It’s when the avian (or swine etc) flu virus infects an animal, including human, which is already infected with its own species-specific flu virus.
Eg. a human individual with their own flu, then gets a dose of the avian flu on top of it.
The two species-specific viruses then can replicate together to form a hybrid with chunks of DNA from both.
Immunity to the segments of your own species flu is usually fine, but there is little or no immunity to the “alien” segments of the recombined virus.
Even then, the hybrid may not be infectious, if it doesn’t pick up the genes for infectiousness.
All random chance in avian flu mixing with human flu in the first place, just infecting odd unlucky individuals with flu, who handled sick birds or spent too much time mucking out their barns, or duck hunting etc.
For it to become a human pandemic, it not only has to hybridise with human flu, it also needs to pick up the specific human viral genes responsible for human-to-human transmission. More random chance.
But the longer it runs around in birds or pigs or horses or wild critters or whatever the greater the chances it will eventually hybridise into an infectious/spreadable form.
Rain, thank you – some of those insights are new to me, especially the need for hybridisation. I’d assumed that a chance mutation within a mammalian host could be sufficient for it to spread more widely.
I try to stick to my brief and predominantly cover phenomena more obviously related to climate change but this bird flu had really been making me feel like we are chafing at the limits of mother nature’s tolerance.
What is worrying about this ‘ biggest ever’ outbreak of bird flu is that an important aspect is rather underexposed.
We are mainly talking about the damage to the poultry bio-industry. In France, the now annual culls (12 million this year) and damages now cost an average of €2 billion a year. The breeding focal areas in France are therefore completely insane and the policymakers are watching completely paralysed and doing nothing. Waiting for a vaccine… and then surely a booster and another booster etc, given the rapid mutation of this virus too. An interesting example of reduced surplus yield by the way. In addition, of course, everyone is extremely worried about whether there isn’t another human pandemic lurking after which virologists are again rolling over each other with all sorts of fearful claims.
However, the biggest problem at the moment is that this H5N1 virus appears to be particularly infectious for ‘wild birds’. Migratory birds whose populations are taking heavy hits like the great skua, barnacle geese, gannets, gulls geese and even bald eagles. Meanwhile, penguins in South Africa, dalmatian pelicans in the Balkans and cranes in Israel are affected. As environmental threats become more urgent, some may never recover.For the first time, bird flu has now also been detected in South America, with outbreaks in Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Chile and Ecuador bone threatening vulnerable species such as those living in the Galapagos Islands. “It is no exaggeration to say that endangered bird species could become extinct,” biologists argue.
In France, however, one thing is paramount….with Christmas, fatty goose and duck liver (pate de foie gras) must be eaten. There will still be a long way to go.
“However, the biggest problem at the moment is that this H5N1 virus appears to be particularly infectious for ‘wild birds’.”
Zip, I’ve seen dead birds on the beaches out here in the Hebrides, which is a major stopping off point for migratory wildfowl: “Flu has been detected amongst an internationally important population of geese on a Scottish island. Islay, an island off the west coast, hosts approximately 60% of the world’s barnacle geese every winter.”
https://www.thenational.scot/news/23212086.avian-flu-detected-among-barnacle-geese-islay/
My poor chickens had to spend most of last winter in their coop and covered run because of the restrictions and they hated it, so I am hoping they are not re-imposed.