“Freakishly warm air has billowed up from Siberia over the Arctic Ocean and parts of Greenland, and the heat will only intensify in the coming days. The warmth is helping to spread widespread wildfires and to kickstart ice melt season early, both ominous signs of what summer could hold.
“The Arctic has been on one recently. Russia had its hottest winter ever recorded, driven largely by Siberian heat. That heat hasn’t let up as the calendar turns to spring. In fact, it’s intensified and spread across the Arctic.
“Last month was the hottest April on record for the globe, driven by high Arctic temperatures that averaged an astounding 17 degrees Fahrenheit (9.4 degrees Celsius) above normal…”
“The hot weather expected this week [in the UK] is likely going to encourage swarms of Blandford flies, which can cause painful, puss filled bites and typically target sensitive areas…
“Many areas are being hit, including Oxfordshire where the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust reported that its minor injury units have seen a ‘significant increase’ in patients with bites from the bugs.”
“[Re Covid-10] The honest answer is that nobody knows.
“”What we do know is that other coronaviruses that normally circulate in human populations, they peak in the winter and tip down in the summer and disappear. We hope that this one will behave the same, but we are sceptical about whether that’s going to happen or not,” explains Professor Semenza.”
“Across the Mediterranean with its tantalising beaches, a record heatwave has hit countries just as they cautiously ease COVID-19 lockdowns, stoking hopes the new season will help fight the virus…
“On Sunday, the temperature climbed to a sizzling 42.5 degrees in Paphos, the hottest ever recorded in Cyprus during May.”
“Experts believe that the extreme heatwave besetting Israel, which might give 2020 the dubious title of “warmest year in history,” is a direct result of climate change… Prof. Shanas pointed out that the average temperature is twice as warm as the global average.
“If we look at future predictions, all of Israel will become a desert by the end of the century,” he said.”
“Flooding in central Somalia has affected nearly 1 million people, displacing about 400,000 people, the United Nations said Monday, warning of possible disease outbreaks because of crowding where the displaced are seeking temporary shelter…
“The area is still recovering from floods last year that displaced more than 500,000 people.”
“Millions of people in India and Bangladesh are in the path of a super cyclone which is due to make landfall in less than 36 hours…
“Super Cyclone Amphan became the strongest storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal on Monday night, after intensifying with sustained wind speeds of up to 270 kilometers per hour (165 miles per hours)…”
“It is becoming increasingly evident that hurricanes, typhoons, and tropical cyclones worldwide are becoming stronger and potentially more deadly as the globe warms due to the climate crisis, according to a new study.”
“[Taiwain’s] Ministry of Defense dispatched amphibious vehicles and inflatable boats to flood prone areas around the country today as meteorologists warned of possible disaster level rains this week.
“A heavy rain advisory warning was issued by the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) at 9:00 pm Monday forecasting heavy rain starting from Monday night to Tuesday…”
“A squad of climate-related factors is responsible for the massive Australian coral bleaching event of 2016. If we’re counting culprits: it’s two by sea, one by land.”
“Environmental agencies have reported an uptick in deforestation during lockdowns, as well as increases in poaching, animal trafficking and illegal mining worldwide.
“The trends are alarming, environmental experts say, and could be hard to reverse… in Ecuador, indigenous and afro-descendent communities have reported increased illegal mining in the Choco and Amazon rainforests.”
“The lack of drinking water was exacerbated today in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, amid a heat wave and at the beginning of the third month of the quarantine imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus…
“…which caused 541 infections and 10 deaths in the country.”
“The agricultural conditions known as a “dust bowl”, which helped propel mass migration among drought-stricken farmers in the US during the great depression of the 1930s, are now more than twice as likely to reoccur in the region…
“…because of climate breakdown, new research has found.”
“Tropical Storm Arthur moved out to sea Monday after dumping heavy rain on North Carolina as forecasters warned that the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season could continue to whip dangerous surf and rip currents for another day or more along the East Coast.”
“With nearly two weeks remaining in the month, Chicago is poised to smash the record for wettest May on record thanks to a series of heavy rainfall events…
“The all-time record that the city could potentially break hasn’t exactly stood for very long. According to NBC 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Paul Deanno, the record was set in 2019, with 8.25 inches of rain falling during the month.”
“A powerful cyclone that formed in the Bay of Bengal is headed directly for the India-Bangladesh border, bringing with it the potential for major destruction and upheaval in two countries that are still battling the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Cyclone Amphan has strengthened to the equivalent of a strong Category 4 Atlantic hurricane, or a super typhoon in the West Pacific.”
“The mayor of the small town of Jipapad in the Philippines’ Eastern Samar province that was severely devastated by Typhoon Vongfong raised frantic appeals for help on Saturday, saying his constituents had no more food and clean water.
“Floodwaters rose as high as a two-story house and most of the town’s 13 villages remained underwater on Saturday morning, he said.”
“In the midst of economic shocks and border closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the Pacific region has yet again been ravaged by a Category 5 cyclone [Harold]
“…that left a trail of destruction across four Pacific island countries in a span of four days from April 5 to 8.”
“A day full of showers and thunderstorms culminated in significant flooding Sunday evening as rain overflowed the Chicago River and rendered some local roadways impassable…
““The water is only going to continue to rise even after the rain stops because the ground is so heavily saturated — the water has nowhere to go,” weather service meteorologist Matt Friedlein said.”
“A tornado touched down Friday evening in Saratoga County, New York, the National Weather Service confirmed on Saturday.
“The tornado touched down in Wilton, New York at 6 p.m. Friday near the intersection of Nichols Road and Woodard Road and tracked easy for about two miles…”
“Tropical Storm Arthur crawled closer to the North Carolina coast Sunday evening, amid threats of some minor flooding and rough seas as the system moves off the Southeast seaboard.
“Arthur formed Saturday in waters off Florida, marking the sixth straight year that a named storm has developed before the official June 1 start of the Atlantic hurricane season.”
“More than 500 calls were made about gorse fires in Northern Ireland in April, four times the volume the Fire and Rescue Service normally anticipates.
“And this weekend 48 fire fighters and support teams have been in Co Down tackling a wildfire that is burning underground as well as destroying all in its path above ground.”
“Crews have been tackling flames which have ravaged through a forest in East Sussex.
“East Sussex Fire and Rescue, along with crews from West Sussex and Kent, raced to the Ashdown Forest overnight as sections of the open space had been engulfed by fire.”
“The prolonged period of dry weather in the Czech Republic has resulted in what experts are calling the ‘worst drought in 500 years.’
“Scientists are using ESA satellite data to monitor the drought that’s gripped the country. Recent maps, produced by the Dutch company VanderSat, show the extent of the recent drought in the Czech Republic.”
“Beaches across Greece have flooded with people again on Sunday, on the third day of the heatwave that had meteorologists perplexed over how early in the season temperatures reached 40 degrees Celsius(104 Fahrenheit) in some areas.”
“Cyprus is experiencing the hottest May on record as an extreme heatwave grips the island pushing temperatures past 40° Celsius for the fourth consecutive day.”
“Sunday saw all-time high temperatures in provinces throughout western Turkey, including in southern Antalya, southwestern Muğla, Burdur and Isparta, and northwestern Bursa.
“The director of the 4th Regional Directorate of Meteorology, Latif Gültekin, said the temperatures Saturday and Sunday set all-time record highs for May in Antalya, Muğla, Burdur and Isparta.”
“The extreme heatwave in Israel will continue until the end of the week, with no let-up from sweltering temperatures even at night, according to a warning by the Israel Meteorological Service (IMS) on Sunday, amidst one of the most severe heatwaves in Israel in decades…
“Israel’s Fire and Rescue Services are on high alert as the threat of wildfires remains high due to the combining factors of high temperatures, low humidity levels and fierce winds.”
“Zimbabwe’s second biggest city of Bulawayo limited access to tap water to just one day a week on Friday as reservoir levels fall to dangerously low levels amid the country’s worst drought in years.
“After a devastating drought in 2019 and patchy rains this year, water shortages have worsened in Bulawayo…”
“Already navigating the coronavirus pandemic and the worst invasion of desert locusts for more than 25 years, parts of East Africa are now being devastated by flooding.
“Heavy rains over the last month have led to overflowing rivers and lakes and mudslides, with Kenya particularly impacted.”
“Dozens of Tajiks affected by some of the worst flooding and mudslides in years have blocked a key road in a rare instance of public protest in the authoritarian Central Asian nation.
“The protesters halted traffic on May 17 along the Bokhtar-Dushanbe road, which connects the nation’s capital with the center of Khatlon Province.”
“Spring wildfires across Siberia have Russian authorities on alert for a potentially devastating summer season of blazes after an unusually warm and dry winter in one of the world’s climate-change hot spots.
“Some of the April fires in eastern Russia have already dwarfed the infernos from this time last year…”
“Scientists found that the magnetic north is experiencing some kind of shift, making its way towards Siberia. For a while, it was unexplained, until today as they believe that conflicting magnetic blobs may have caused the shift.”
“Using a combination of satellite sensors, scientists recently found that Denman Glacier has been retreating both above and below the water line. That one glacier in East Antarctica holds as much ice as half of West Antarctica, so scientists are concerned about its stability.”
“It was a remarkably cold winter across the High Arctic, at least compared with the abnormally mild winters in many recent years. But the weather pattern has reversed this spring and unusually warm air is surging toward the North Pole, paving the way for the Arctic ice melt season to commence.
“The sudden pulse of warmth is one of many observed in the Arctic in recent years, which research shows are increasing in frequency due to rapid climate change, accelerating the loss of sea and land ice.
“Above freezing temperatures are showing up in the Central Arctic about one month earlier than average this week, according to Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at CIRES…”
“The seasonal ice melting in the Yakutia and Krasnoyarsk regions of Russia caused a rise of water level in Siberian rivers, triggering floods in towns and villages.
“Ice jams on the Lena river led to the water rising two metres higher than the critical level.”
“Scientists warned on Thursday that a catastrophic tsunami is most likely to happen because of climate change increasing the risk of a massive landslide in an Alaskan fjord.
“A glacier that supports a steep, mile-long slope along one flank in Prince William Sound is slowly retreating due to warmer temperatures.”
“A wildfire in Southwest Florida continued to grow in size Thursday evening, forcing hundreds of residents from their homes along a stretch of Interstate 75.
“A 20-mile stretch of the interstate, also known as Alligator Alley, that had been closed overnight was reopened about 2:30 p.m. Thursday.”
“Fires are raging in the coastal state of Guerrero in south-central Mexico and smoke from the fires drifts over most of the state.
“On May 12, 2020, the Comisión Nacional Forestal of Mexico reported 15 active forest fires throughout the state. The fires have been difficult to control because of strong winds.”
“June 1 is the official start to Atlantic hurricane season, but a weather system forming now may make this the sixth straight year with a tropical system forming before that date.
“”This system is likely to become a tropical or subtropical storm by late Friday or Saturday when it is located near the northwestern Bahamas,” the National Hurricane Center said.”
“Temperatures in many [of Turkey’s] provinces and locales in the interior and western region may approach or even top record levels…
“Adil Tek, head of an Istanbul-based earthquake institute, said this year the average temperature in Istanbul from January to May 13 broke a 109-year temperature record, and an early summer can be expected.”
“Israel is on high alert as wildfires are expected across the country due to abnormally high temperatures, Israel Fire and Rescue Services (IFRS) Commissioner Dedi Simchi said Friday morning.
“According to Simchi, starting this weekend, a heatwave is expected to hit the country, with extremely high temperatures and low humidity.”
“24 people have been killed and more than 283,000 others have been displaced by floods in Somalia, according to figures released by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Somalia.
“The figures also indicated that 28 districts and more than 701,000 people in the Horn of Africa nation have been affected by the floods.”
“The Mekong animates a vast swathe of Asia, from the snow-packed mountains of south-western China from which it springs, to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam in the lower portion of the basin. As it meanders along its 4,500km route, it feeds and waters some 66m people. Yet the river is ailing.
“Last year the water in the Mekong fell to its lowest level since records began…”
“Almost one million Rohingya people in the world’s largest refugee camp are facing the added threat of a cyclone as the first cases of Covid-19 are confirmed, Oxfam warned today.
“The cyclone, which is likely to form off the coast over the weekend, could bring further suffering and destruction to the camps on top of a potentially devastating health crisis.”
“A tropical downpour caused flash floods on roads in Pattaya, eastern Thailand, today (May 14). Motorists and pedestrians had to battle through the deluge which left some parts submerged in knee-deep water…
“Tropical storms have been sweeping Thailand for the last few weeks as the country enters its scorching summer season with temperatures reaching 42C.”
“Heavy rainfall throughout the week has caused floods and landslides in several provinces, as the rainy season is expected to be last longer than initially forecasted.
“A downpour lasting from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning led to floods in Lebak regency [Indonesia]…”
“Northern Samar, Bicol region [Philippines takes direct hit from Typhoon Vongfong…
“Typhoon, equivalent to Hurricane Category 4, brings gusts of up to 212 km/h… Power outages reported in provinces that saw its wrath, while country deals with effects of coronavirus pandemic…”
“Heavy rain caused terrifying flash floods and landslides in Indonesia today (May 13). The downpours struck the Paya Tumpi area of Aceh Province dragging trees down from mountains and even washing away cars.
“Panic-stricken locals fled when the torrent carrying rocks and mud began surging through their village. While others screamed as they watched the devastation being unleashed.”
“Typhoon Vongfong is raking the central Philippines Thursday and is expected to unleash flooding rainfall, landslides and damaging windsas it tracks through the northern Philippines through Saturday.
“Vongfong, which is locally known as “Ambo” in the Philippines, made landfall just after midday Thursday, local time…”
“Hawke’s Bay farmers [NZ] are in “uncharted territory” as drought conditions in the region worsen.
“The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council on Thursday said it had “grave concerns” for farmers, particularly in the central part of the region, as dry conditions continue to be unrelenting.”
“In the past, indigenous communities would patrol their lands every week or fortnight to find criminals looking to loot the forest…
“Since April, though, these patrol have largely stopped. The risk of coronavirus is too high, posing a new threat to both the Amazon and its protectors.”
“…the artificial passage between the Pacific and the Atlantic [the Panama Canal], opened in 1914, has suffered one of its worst natural crises since last year and has nothing to do with the efforts involved in keeping it running in times of coronavirus…
“A mother of five got pelted by hail in a thunderstorm last week and suffered several injuries [Missouri, US]…
““If the hail was any bigger, coming down any harder, I’m almost positive we would have died,” Langston said, “we held each other behind a few trees, it was very scary.”
“Parts of the UK saw some of their lowest May temperatures on record overnight, according to the Met Office.
“Katesbridge and Castlederg in Northern Ireland plunged to -6.1C and -3.9C respectively overnight thanks to a combination of clear skies and Arctic air coming in from the north.”
“Radiation from atomic bomb tests during the Cold War era caused changes in the atmosphere that led to increased rainfall in Scotland in the 1960s, scientists have found.
“Even though the detonations carried out in the 1950s and 1960s occurred in remote areas, the scientists said these tests resulted in changes to rainfall patterns in certain parts of the UK…”
“Israel is heading into a heat wave, with temperatures expected to rise to more than 43°C (109°F) in some regions of the country over the weekend, the Israel Meteorological Service has forecast…
“The high temperatures are expected to persist into next week, with Bet She’an potentially reaching up to 46°C (114.8°F) and Tiberias 45°C (113°F) by Tuesday.”
“The population of Russian doves is declining fast as its illegal hunting goes on unchecked in different parts of Hazara division, a source told Dawn here on Wednesday.
The brown-dark brown-white dove is a migratory bird that travels from Siberia and Russia to parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan [Pakistan every year…”
“Residents of Chita, a Russian city in Siberia north of Mongolia, experienced a frightening storm on Wednesday as powerful winds blew roofs off buildings, picked up metal garages and scattered them throughout neighbourhood yards…
“…a video shows a garage being picked up and thrown several meters as a frightened resident runs for cover.”
“Consider extreme weather, ranked the No. 1 global risk in terms of likelihood.
“While the chance of catastrophic floods, heat waves, storms or wildfires is unaffected by the pandemic, vulnerability to these events has increased massively. Governments, companies and households are stretched to a breaking point: They are all less able to cope and less able to recover.”
“April 2020 was the planet’s second warmest April since record keeping began in 1880, said NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) on Wednesday.
“April 2020 came in just 0.07°C below the record set in April 2016, according to NOAA, but was the warmest April on record, 0.04°C above 2016, according to NASA.”
“Locals in Dudinka are preparing for this year’s spectacular show on the Yenisey. Every spring, the great Siberian river breaks up and pushes vast masses of ice down the flow towards the Arctic coast of the Kara Sea.
“This year, the sight can be viewed earlier than anyone can remember. The record-early break-up comes after an extraordinary warm winter and spring.”
“It may read May on the calendar, but winter-like conditions have returned with a vengeance. Frigid conditions across the region [Canada] set a new record for May 12.”
“Two sisters aged 7 and 3 died in flash flooding that sent torrents of water roaring into a narrow canyon in the Utah desert, authorities said Tuesday.
“At least 21 others escaped the flooding Monday afternoon in Little Wildhorse Canyon, where the curving sandstone walls are so narrow at points that hikers must turn sideways to walk through.”
“The Missouri River has been slowly running dry since the 1950s, and could be on the verge of triggering a new era of drought across the midwest…
“…the drying trend began in the 1950s and reached its worst point in the decade between 2000 and 2010, when the Missouri River ran lower than at any point in the last 1,200 years.”
“The San Joaquin Valley — with all its agriculture and the hundreds of thousands of jobs that go with it — is one of the places most at risk because of changing snowmelt patterns, a new study shows…
“A new study published in Nature Climate Change indicates that about 50 percent of current runoff comes directly from Sierra snowmelt, and the Valley stands to lose between 13 percent and 50 percent of snowmelt runoff as the climate warms.”
“The long-term effects of climate change suggests that the butterfly effect is at work on butterflies in the alpine regions of North America, according to a new study — and the predictions don’t bode well.”
“Recorded temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean are increasing at an “alarming” rate, according to one scientist, and forcing fisherman to confront a seafood industry primed for disruption.
“Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts recorded 2017 as the warmest year on record for water temperatures in the Northeast. Glen Gawarkiewicz, a senior scientist at the institution, said 2019 was equally “disturbing…””
“At least five experienced surfers have drowned after going out in stormy weather off the coast of The Hague, Dutch authorities have said.
“The group of men, aged between 22 and 38, were among 10 surfers and swimmers who took to the water in Scheveningen on Monday evening in heavy weather that generated a thick layer of sea foam and hampered rescue efforts.”
“Kenya May 13 – 237 people have lost their lives due to floods as rains cause havoc across the country, according to official statistics.
“The worst affected areas are around Lake Victoria, Lake Naivasha, Tana River, Nzoia River and parts of Central Kenya along tributaries that flow into Tana River from The Aberdares.”
“This is the worst “upsurge”—the category of intensity below “plague”—of desert locusts experienced in Ethiopia and Somalia for 25 years and in Kenya for 70 years.
“The region’s growing season is underway, and as the swarms have grown while the coronavirus complicates mitigation efforts…”
“This summer has not been so cruel for Chennaites with temperature remaining below normal and not breaching 37 degrees Celsius even once.
“But all this could change later this week with a monstrous cyclone brewing in the Bay of Bengal, which is likely to trigger a heatwave in Tamil Nadu.”
“Thailand’s sugar mills are warning that another drought could significantly cut into output for the 2020-21 crop year.
“Siriwut Siempakdi, president of the Thai Sugar Millers Corporation (TSMC) public relations working group, said the industry must brace for the next drought.”
“The world’s largest ecosystems may alter drastically faster than previously thought, according to a recent study published in Nature Communications, shedding new light on the behavior of climate tipping points.
“Real-life cases reveal a pattern: bigger ecosystems collapse at a faster rate than smaller ones. According to the findings, climate tipping points could happen in a matter of years…”
“Communities across Southeast Alaska saw record-breaking high temperatures over the weekend…
“The National Weather Service issued a special weather statement Sunday warning of continued fire danger for the entire region due to warm temperatures and low humidity.”
“The amount of precipitation that fell in Winnipeg between Jan. 1 and May 7 is the third lowest ever recorded in that time period, according to meteorologist Jay Anderson.
““The lowest amount was two years ago and the second-lowest amount was four years ago,” Anderson said. “In the last five years, we’ve had the three driest springs ever in Winnipeg history.””
“Just weeks after an April frost devastated central Virginia wineries, and during a time when their tasting room doors have been closed due to the coronavirus, record-low temperatures this weekend dealt another blow to those vineyards.
“Some report the loss of entire blocks of grapes.”
“The seasonal temperature flip-flop continues for the eastern US as temperatures from the South to the Mid-Atlantic will warm to feel more like summer with high’s 10°-15° above average.” [Video]
“Officials continue to battle Florida wildfires amid record heat, dry conditions…
“The fires, which have damaged properties and prompted area evacuations and road closures, are being attributed to abnormal heat and dry weather in the state, with the Florida Panhandle among those hardest-hit.”
“West Nile Virus-carrying mosquitoes managed to survive a German winter…
“Europe is usually too cold for tropical diseases to persist for long, but climate change helped it overwinter. The infection was detected in wild and aviary birds such as owls and blackbirds, in addition to horses.”
“The problem is that the edge of the glacier marks the boundary between Italy and Switzerland — when the building opened in 1984 it was clearly in Italy, but since then the glacier has melted rapidly, especially during the record heatwave in Europe in 2003 and several hot summers afterwards.”
“Temperatures [in Turkey] over the weekend will be above seasonal averages across most of the country due to the hot weather coming in from North Africa, weather experts warned Monday…
“Last year, Turkey and Europe sweltered under record temperatures. Several provinces across the country saw thermometers exceed 40 degrees C.”
“The UNHCR has warned that conflict and serious flooding have forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes amid risks of COVID-19 in Somalia.
“Heavy flooding, conflict, a crippled economy, impending desert locust swarms and the exponential spread of COVID-19 are threatening the safety and welfare of Somalia’s 2.6 million internally displaced people.”
“More than 3,000 firefighters and other personnel were battling a fire that started Saturday in southwest China’s Yunnan Province, local authorities said Tuesday.
“The fire broke out at around 3:33 p.m. Saturday in the city of Anning. On early Tuesday morning, the fire spread to the neighboring Lufeng County under Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture.”
“Social distancing may save human lives, but it’s wreaking havoc on some of the world’s most threatened species.
“In Botswana, which depends heavily on tourism, poachers have taken advantage of suddenly empty wildlife reserves to kill at least six endangered rhinos during the coronavirus pandemic.
“In South Africa’s North West province, at least nine more were killed as sightseers stayed home. Fears are rising that tigers, elephants and countless lesser-known species might soon face similar threats.”
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Weekday updates on both climate change and the global economy. Stay current with what’s happening around the world with a quick scan of top news.
“Freakishly warm air has billowed up from Siberia over the Arctic Ocean and parts of Greenland, and the heat will only intensify in the coming days. The warmth is helping to spread widespread wildfires and to kickstart ice melt season early, both ominous signs of what summer could hold.
“Sweden reported its biggest ever earthquake caused by mining on Monday at an iron ore mine north of the Arctic Circle run by state firm LKAB. 
“The hot weather expected this week [in the UK] is likely going to encourage swarms of Blandford flies, which can cause painful, puss filled bites and typically target sensitive areas… 
“Over 100 firefighters are still battling a fire that’s affected 150 hectares of Wareham Forest [UK]. 
“[Re Covid-10] The honest answer is that nobody knows. 
“Across the Mediterranean with its tantalising beaches, a record heatwave has hit countries just as they cautiously ease COVID-19 lockdowns, stoking hopes the new season will help fight the virus… 
“Experts believe that the extreme heatwave besetting Israel, which might give 2020 the dubious title of “warmest year in history,” is a direct result of climate change… Prof. Shanas pointed out that the average temperature is twice as warm as the global average. 
“Flooding in central Somalia has affected nearly 1 million people, displacing about 400,000 people, the United Nations said Monday, warning of possible disease outbreaks because of crowding where the displaced are seeking temporary shelter… 
“Millions of people in India and Bangladesh are in the path of a super cyclone which is due to make landfall in less than 36 hours… 
“[Taiwain’s] Ministry of Defense dispatched amphibious vehicles and inflatable boats to flood prone areas around the country today as meteorologists warned of possible disaster level rains this week.
“Environmental agencies have reported an uptick in deforestation during lockdowns, as well as increases in poaching, animal trafficking and illegal mining worldwide. 
“The lack of drinking water was exacerbated today in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, amid a heat wave and at the beginning of the third month of the quarantine imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus…
“The agricultural conditions known as a “dust bowl”, which helped propel mass migration among drought-stricken farmers in the US during the great depression of the 1930s, are now more than twice as likely to reoccur in the region…
“At least one person was killed and nine were injured when a possible tornado struck a small town in central Louisiana. 
“Tropical Storm Arthur moved out to sea Monday after dumping heavy rain on North Carolina as forecasters warned that the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season could continue to whip dangerous surf and rip currents for another day or more along the East Coast.”
“With nearly two weeks remaining in the month, Chicago is poised to smash the record for wettest May on record thanks to a series of heavy rainfall events…
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