“Drought to deluge: Horn of Africa experiencing floods after six seasons of failed rains.
“Flash floods that damaged large areas of cropland likely to deal the hunger-plagued eastern Africa region a major blow…
“Situation reports by multiple organisations, including the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) and the Kenya Red Cross showed dire cases of flash floods in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania and others.”
“Historic Record Heat in Southern Africa:
“Mauritius: 33.8C [92.8F] at Agalega Island, hottest May day in Mauritius history; South Africa:34.8C at Upington, new station monthly record high; Namibia: 38.3C at Khorixas. And there is no end in sight to this unseasonal warmth.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1653104505972506625
“Madagascar bush fires prompt exasperated NGO to curtail tree planting…
“After 14 years in Madagascar, it was the last straw for Graine de Vie, a Belgian NGO dedicated to reforestation. In October, 50,000 saplings in the Ambohitantely Special Reserve, freshly planted eight months earlier, went up in smoke.”
“Four killed as heavy rains, flood trigger dam collapse in Yemen.
“The Al-Aqabi Dam which collapsed was in the Hafash region of the Al Mahwit governorate. Following the collapse it triggered a flood that carried away a mosque with four people inside. All four died.”
https://www.wionews.com/world/four-killed-as-heavy-rains-flood-trigger-dam-collapse-in-yemen-587697
“Torrential rains leave K-P in a mess [Pakistan]…
“Torrential rains and hailstorms that slammed various parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), starting last week, have caused serious damage to Kharif crops while inundating different parts of the province including some areas of the provincial capital.”
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2414651/torrential-rains-leave-k-p-in-a-mess
“Exceptional contrasts in Asia: Today record heat in Russia with 30C / 86F recorded north of 57N latitude (!) including Samara and Kazan.
“In India record low daytime temps: Dehradun 19.9C / 67.8F (lat 30N,elev. 640m asl); Mukteshwar 10.1C (2100m asl); May record low Tmin at Dharamshala with 8.4C.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1653060906203459585
“Northern Japan experienced a record warm April, tying with 1983, according to JMA. (＋2.1℃ than normal) 13 weather stations recorded the highest average temperature for April.
“The record warmth led to unprecedentedly early cherry blossom season.”
https://twitter.com/sayakasofiamori/status/1653093086501933056
“Whanganui [NZ] records its hottest ever May temperature, tops country.
“Whanganui has recorded its hottest ever May day. Metservice meteorologist Dan Corrigan said the weather station at Whanganui Airport recorded a temperature of 24.7C [76.5F] just after 1.30pm – the warmest in the country.”
“Cars Are Being Swept Out to Sea in Tahiti.
“…a torrential downpour resulted in a devastating flash flood, with cars being swept into the lagoon at Teahupo’o, and homes going underwater. It’s a terrible situation for the most welcoming community in the surf world.”
https://www.surfer.com/trending-news/cars-are-being-swept-out-to-sea-in-tahiti
“Unbelievable heat in Argentina, in its last part of autumn with temperatures up to 39.0C [102.2F] yesterday at Jachal, beating an April record heat at the end of the month.
“Never ending record heat in Argentina since November 2022 with records by hundreds throughout all these 6 months.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1652593446610165760
“Yesterday 30 April the Dutch Caribbean municipality of Saba had its hottest April day on records with 32.2C [90F].
“This temperature even exceeds its record of May (32.1C).”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1653021262027825153
“Perpetual Floods, Rivers Of Trash: Climate Change Hits Extra Hard In Haiti.
“… it’s not just the erosion of important watersheds but changing weather patterns that make the river more susceptible to flooding. Climate change has brought heavier rains, and for residents near this waterway, the rainy season is even more dangerous than hurricane season.”
https://worldcrunch.com/green/natural-disasters
“Tornado hits Virginia Beach, likely damaging hundreds of homes and triggering state of emergency…
“City officials said it’s unclear how many homes had been damaged but they estimated between 50 and 100, after the tornado touched down just after 6 p.m. Patrick Duhaney, the city manager in Virginia Beach, said “hundreds of homes” were likely impacted during a news conference on Monday morning.”
“The New York City area was drenched with nearly nonstop torrential rain over the weekend that flooded streets, inundated basements and led to an evacuation of a Bronx building.
“The dayslong deluge started Friday evening and continued through late Sunday with flood advisories in effect in New York City and its neighboring areas.”
“At least six people were killed and dozens of others injured on Monday in multiple car crashes and pile-ups along Interstate 55 in southern Illinois during a dust storm, state police said.
“Roughly 40 to 60 passenger cars and several big-rig trucks were involved in the crashes shortly after 11am local time (12pm ET), Maj Ryan Starrick of the state police said.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/01/illinois-dust-storm-crashes
“Historic May storm brings snow and record cold temperatures to the Great Lakes.
“In the Midwest, the unofficial start to summer with barbecues seems a little far-fetched as people are still shoveling and having to clear snow off their grills before they even think about using them.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/01/weather/may-snow-cold-great-lakes-northeast-wxn/index.html
“Deadly heat waves threaten older people as summer nears [US].
“Paramedics summoned to an Arizona retirement community last summer found an 80-year-old woman slumped inside her mobile home, enveloped in the suffocating 99-degree (37 C) heat she suffered for days after her air conditioner broke down. Efforts to revive her failed…”
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/deadly-heat-waves-threaten-older-people-summer-nears-98967403
“Many California hospitals are near wildfire danger zones, study says.
“… researchers found that Northern California hospitals are at particular risk because of the lower number of inpatient options in those zones. This is of particular concern, they write, because of the area’s fire hazards.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/04/30/wildfire-hospital-threats/
“2 monthly records fell in Canadian British Columbia: 28.2C [82.8F] Kelowna (merging all stations); 25.7C Sparwood (1137m).
“In total in April Canada broken records of highest temperatures for 1 station in Ontario, 2 in Nunavut and 2 in British Columbia.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1653044625777520642
“Wildfires in Alaska? Climate Change Sparks Disaster Fears.
“Research on a flat spot for air evacuations. Talk of old-style civil defense sirens to warn of fast-moving wildfires. Hundreds of urban firefighters training in wildland firefighting techniques while snow still blankets the ground. This is the new reality in Alaska’s largest city…”
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2023/05/01/718507.htm
“Net-zero tree planting ‘adding to carbon emissions’ [Scotland]…
“…a report from Mary-Ann Smyth, of the Crichton Carbon Centre, says that some of the new forests are being planted on peat, especially in the southwest… she said that foresters are digging up and draining large parts of bog, releasing carbon dioxide in to the atmosphere.”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/net-zero-tree-planting-adding-to-carbon-emissions-nhz7qmxvh
“Many Europeans want climate action – but less so if it changes their lifestyle, shows poll.
“Many Europeans are alarmed by the climate crisis and would willingly take personal steps and back government policies to help combat it, a survey suggests – but the more a measure would change their lifestyle, the less they support it.”
“‘Historic’ wildfires could threaten summer holidays in sweltering Europe as Spain sees record 39°C April day.
“An unusually dry spring across parts of southern Europe could threaten summer holidays with a repeat of last year’s devastating wildfires, the head of the EU climate monitoring service has warned. Spain recorded its hottest ever April day on Thursday at 38.7°C [101.7F]…”
“Aquatic turtles struggle to survive severe drought in Tunisia.
“Aquatic turtles living in Wadi Shaybah dam in Tunisia’s Nabeul province are at risk of losing their natural habitats in the valley due to a severe drought which has entered its fourth year.”
“Millions of Egyptian livelihoods could dry up as Ethiopia dam threatens Nile water access…
“With a population of nearly 105 million people who depend on the Nile for more than 90 per cent of their fresh water needs, Egypt is now fighting to protect its very existence. Upstream, regional rival Ethiopia is pressing ahead with the construction of a massive dam that Egyptians fear will lead to severe shortages of vital water supplies.”
“Iraqi President calls on Tehran to respect Iraq’s water share…
“Rashid’s statement comes in light of the declined water flow coming from Turkey and Iran, amid warnings that water scarcity is threatening food security in Iraq. The Iraqi president, accompanied by a high-level delegation, arrived on Saturday morning in the Iranian capital on an official visit.”
https://www.iraqinews.com/iraq/iraqi-president-calls-on-tehran-to-respect-iraqs-water-share/
“Brutal heat in Sub Saharan Africa with temperatures up t 46/47C these days. Today the highest was 46.4C at Podor in Senegal.
“Hottest April day on records at Akjoujt in Mauritania with 45.3C [113.5F]. This station had already beaten its record for March.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1652748443113103360
“‘Statistically impossible’ heat extremes are here: Study identifies the regions most at risk.
“In the summer of 2021, Canada’s all-time temperature record was smashed by almost 5℃. Its new record of 49.6℃ [121.3F] is hotter than anything ever recorded in Spain, Turkey or indeed anywhere in Europe.”
https://phys.org/news/2023-04-statistically-impossible-extremes-regions.html
“15 million people at risk globally from glacial lake dam bursts, study finds.
“As mountain glaciers melt, they create high-altitude lakes, dammed by rocks or ice. If pressure builds or landslides or ice avalanches occur, that natural dam can break. Water and debris can then rush down the mountainsides — devastating communities.”
“Sheep in wolves’ clothing – the IPCC’s latest final warning.
“So, the IPCC’s ‘AR6 Final Synthesis Report’, the end-product of a 7-year reporting cycle from this UN body tasked with advising humanity on climate change — an accelerating, unprecedented, existential threat — has come and it has gone.
“And there has been no meaningful response, anywhere.”
You can read the previous “Climate” thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with an “Economic” thread.
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Re> Sheep in Wolves Clothing:
I have been really outraged by the coverage that the war in the Ukraine has gotten here in Europe.
The west claims that the war started in Feb. of 2022. But the eastern Ukrianians claim that the war started in 2014. But even that is not really very accurate. This war really started in 1917. At that time the UK and US began a campaign of subversion against the USSR. When the USSR fell the campaign was clearly continued against Russia. That means that Putin is not to blame for the death and distruction in the Ukraine. The US MIC is to blame.
None the less the interest that I take in the west’s behavior towards Russia, and Iran and China is just something to distract me from the really relebent and vad news which is that the complete collapse of industrial civilization is no more than 20 years away and very possibly only 20 months away. Most of us will die rather quickly once the collapse occurs. Even the luckiest will not last a decade.
Curt, my apologies – your comment got caught in moderation for a while.
All are to blame. None are to blame. Can the US MIC be to blame when it is not a person? Under perspectives that Putin takes no blame, then all others should covered by that same immunity.
It seems like there are many perspectives one can take and none tell the whole story. No one particular view contains the whole truth.
David, I am inclined to agree. It is a complex dance of action and re-action that a moralistic analysis does little to illuminate.
Climate news, says it all really.
However, Dr Doom/Nouriel Roubini has some economic doom to impart at:
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/federal-reserve-facing-trilemma-inflation-recession-insolvent-banks-by-nouriel-roubini-2023-03
“In the face of high and persistent inflation, recession risks, and now a looming insolvency crisis in the financial sector, central banks like the US Federal Reserve are facing a trilemma. Unable to fight inflation and provide liquidity support simultaneously, the only solution is a severe recession – and thus a broader debt crisis.
NEW YORK – In January 2022, when yields on US ten-year Treasury bonds were still roughly 1% and those on German Bunds were -0.5%, I warned that inflation would be bad for both stocks and bonds. Higher inflation would lead to higher bond yields, which in turn would hurt stocks as the discount factor for dividends rose. But, at the same time, higher yields on “safe” bonds would imply a fall in their price, too, owing to the inverse relationship between yields and bond prices.
This basic principle – known as “duration risk” – seems to have been lost on many bankers, fixed-income investors, and bank regulators. As rising inflation in 2022 led to higher bond yields, ten-year Treasuries lost more value (-20%) than the S&P 500 (-15%), and anyone with long-duration fixed-income assets denominated in dollars or euros was left holding the bag. The consequences for these investors have been severe. By the end of 2022, US banks’ unrealized losses on securities had reached $620 billion, about 28% of their total capital ($2.2 trillion).
Thanks, Rain. It is a good article. As pessimistic as Nouriel Roubini is, he does not factor in our problem with energy constraints, so always seems to see things *ultimately* getting better, which of course they cannot.
He is quoted in this article today: “Nobel-prize winning economist Nouriel Roubini has warned that in Europe, unrealised losses on bond portfolios could be even greater [than in the US].
“Banks’ bond holdings aren’t worth enough to cover their liabilities if they had to make a quick sale. That means that any shock could trigger a full-blown banking crisis, exactly what the post-2008 reforms were meant to prevent.
“The bond market is supposed to be boring. Today, it’s the most terrifying place in the world.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/banking-crisis-fears-soar-as-world-s-safest-asset-goes-rogue-and-no-one-can-stop-it/ar-AA1aG3FW