“The coronavirus outbreak could leave the world economy in its worst state since the global financial crisis, with economic activity tipped to shrink through the first quarter of the year as manufacturing and travel falters.
“With the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicting the first drop in global oil demand in a decade, analysts downgraded their expectations for the global economy as the fallout from the virus becomes clearer…
“Capital Economics believes global GDP will shrink by 1 per cent annualised through the start of 2020. It would be the first global economic contraction since the first quarter of 2009, which was during the depths of the GFC.”
“The coronavirus outbreak is causing travel demand across the whole Asia Pacific region to slump, data showed on Thursday…
“ForwardKeys, a travel analytic company, said that airline bookings from across the region were 10.5% lower for March and April 2020 compared with last year. That drop excludes trips to and from China and Hong Kong.”
Japan – the world’s third largest economy – was contracting before the coronavirus outbreak:
“BoJ Executive Director Director Eiji Maeda said Japan’s economy have suffered a “big contraction” in Q4 due to sales tax hike and sluggish global demand.”
“The true economic toll of the coronavirus outbreak on China’s floundering economy will most likely be a closely guarded state secret. The world’s factory has shut up shop and the disruption is reverberating through global supply chains.
“Many economists believe that China is suffering an “unprecedented” contraction – but Beijing will never admit it.”
“In Dubai, the shopping malls and expat bars are as crowded as ever, but the economic outlook is not as sunny as the weather outside. Jobs figures are at their weakest for a decade, the low point of the financial crisis, as the city’s debts continue to bite.
“In Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, the reform plans of the “ambitious” crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, show signs of coming off the rails.”
“Europe is stuck in a rut and it’s getting dangerous. Monetary policy is looser than it’s ever been and there’s little chance it will tighten any time soon. Is helicopter money the way out?
“If growth slows suddenly due to, for example, the coronavirus… there will be calls for more monetary easing.”
“Germany entered 2020 with a flatlining economy and manufacturers in distress, leaving it ill prepared for continued trade uncertainty and the new coronavirus threat.”
“Exuberant equity markets have been telling one story since the coronavirus first escaped control in Wuhan. The bond, currency, and commodity markets are reading from a different, darker script.
“Safe-haven flight into the Swiss franc, the Japanese yen, and the dollar suggests that some large funds are battening down the hatches. The Australian dollar, a proxy for risk appetite, is plumbing depths last seen during the Lehman crisis.”
“JCB, the British digger maker, has cut working hours and suspended overtime for 4,000 UK employees after the coronavirus outbreak prompted a shortage in parts coming from China… JCB’s decision came as companies around the world counted the mounting cost of disruption caused by the coronavirus,
“The boss of China’s biggest listed company, Alibaba, described the coronavirus outbreak as a “black swan” event…”
“Images out of a northern region of Antarctica show a landscape nearly devoid of ice and snow after record-setting temperatures last week…
“The recent highs in the region have followed a string of heat waves since January, Marcelo Leppe, director of the Chilean Antarctic Institute, told Reuters.
“The amount of ice lost annually from the Antarctic has increased six-fold from 1979 to 2017, the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations’ authoritative voice on weather, climate and water, said in a statement last week.”
“Mass melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet, driven by warmer ocean temperatures, was a major cause of extreme sea level rise more than 100,000 years ago, according to new research…
“melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet caused a sea-level rise of more than three metres and it took less than 2C of ocean warming for that to occur.”
“New Zealand’s environment minister has threatened the mining conglomerate Rio Tinto with legal action over what he says is an “outrageous” failure to deal with toxic waste from an aluminium plant.
“Recent South Island floods – in which the waste’s storage facility was nearly inundated, bringing ecological and human tragedy – have infuriated locals in Mataura…”
“Regions around the north and the east coast of the South Island [NZ] are experiencing dry conditions ranging from near to extreme drought.
“Last month, Auckland received record low rainfall, just 7 per cent of their annual forecast amount… Marlborough had their driest January on record in the past 90 years according to NIWA.”
“In the 24 hours up to 9am on Thursday, the northern Gold Coast [Australia] has 100mm-200mm of rainfall. A further 50-100mm has fallen since 9am… Cyclone Uesi was creating large swells along Australia’s east coast…
“Meanwhile, those in the state’s far north are bracing for heatwave conditions into the mid-40s with February temperature records expected to tumble.”
“One of the big drivers of drought in Australia, the Indian Ocean Dipole, is trending towards a more drought-causing positive state due to climate change, according to new research…
“Professor Nerilie Abram says Australia is at a heightened risk of experiencing more hot, dry years.”
““This industry is in a huge crisis due to the continuing drought in some parts of Namibia and the accompanying poor economic situation in the country to such an extent that some of the farmers are exiting the industry,” Namibia Dairies managing director Gunther Ling said.”
“This year’s winter in France has, so far, been the mildest in more than a century, and that has had a direct impact on the ski resort of Le Mourtis, in the Pyrenees mountains.
““There’s no snow,” said French holidaymaker Frederic Foltran, setting off for the piste this week not with his skis but with a two-wheeled scooter…”
“Some forecast models show an extreme solution, with the storm’s pressure dropping below 920 millibars into the 910s.
“If this extreme solution verifies, Dennis would rank as one of the most intense North Atlantic storms on record, according to Weather Underground weather historian Christopher Burt and British weather historian Stephen Burt.”
“For the first 40 days of the year, through Feb. 9, NOAA’s Daily Weather Records website showed 2,421 daily record highs [for the USA], meaning the highest temperature on record for a given location on that particular day, were tied or set in the U.S…
“In all, daily warm records outnumbered cold by a ratio of 7 to 1.”
“New data released this week from USANPN (USA’s National Phenology Network) shows that parts of the southeastern United States are greening up far ahead of schedule…
“In terms of the spring “bloom” that’s running ahead of schedule too.”
“With an average high temperature of 54 degrees, DC’s weather has best matched the typical winter conditions in Atlanta.
““In one regard, this winter’s lack of extreme cold is almost unprecedented in the existing climate record for Washington DC,” the National Weather Service tweeted.“”
“Minnesota ended 2019 as the wettest year on record, leaving the ground saturated and rivers high even before the spring thaw. The snow across most of Minnesota’s frozen landscape has 4 to 6 inches of water in it, and that already will generate a lot of water runoff…
“Many of the forecasting models are predicting [this spring] will be wetter than normal…”
[For the summary and not the silly analysis, which suggests that jet stream behaviour can still be understood outwith the context of climate change]
“Around the world and particularly across much of the United States, a question has emerged: What happened to winter?
“In Japan, record low snowfall has forced ski resorts to close prematurely. In Finland, forests that would normally be stark and bare at this time of year appear lush after what was an “exceptionally” warm January. And in one county in Michigan, municipal workers who usually spend winter plowing snow have taken to trimming trees.
“The lack of snow in Russia led Moscow to bring in fake snow for its New Year festivities and pushed one lawmaker to accuse the United States of using a “climate weapon” against his country.”
“The North Atlantic is stuck on its maximum tempest setting, sparking one rapidly intensifying low pressure area after another.
“These storms then barrel east-northeastward toward Greenland and Iceland, with tentacles of deadly wind, downpours and snow extending down into continental Europe.”
“The UK has been warned to brace itself for another weekend of disruption, gales and torrential rain as Storm Dennis hits.
“The Met Office has now officially named the fourth storm of the season… It comes as the UK continues the clean-up from Storm Ciara and parts of the UK are battered by heavy rain and blizzards.”
“Water levels in Trondheim [Norway] reached 1.4 metres above sea level on Tuesday as a result of a the ‘Elsa’ extreme weather system…
“The high water level — corresponding to 395 centimetres above chart datum — only occurs once every 50 to 100 years, according to local media Adressa.”
“A shark tracker has captured a mysterious scene of the coast of the Carolinas – a group of great white sharks huddled in one area…
“Several people have commented on the sighting, suggesting a combination of a good food supply and temperate water could be the reason for the cluster.”
“Temperatures in Santa Rosa [California] reached a record high Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.
“The high in Santa Rosa was 80 degrees, surpassing the previous daily record of 74 degrees in 1996, said Rick Canepa, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service. The unusually warm weather in the North Bay started Monday…”
“In about 24 hours last week a natural phenomenon near Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, developed from a minor inconvenience into a potentially life-threatening hazard…
“”This is the first time we’ve heard of this,” Pedersen said last Thursday.
“As per a newly released report, the noise that shipping vessels make while passing through northern Canadian waters is actually scaring Arctic cod away from their feeding grounds…
“…which leads to them sacrificing much of their foraging time.”
“A pioneering tribal biodiversity project to restore the sacred Pacific lamprey population has been dealt a major blow after huge floods washed away hundreds of fish before they could be released into the wild…
“The 500,000-acre Umatilla reservation, located about 220 miles east of Portland, Oregon, was inundated last Thursday after sudden unseasonably hot weather caused large quantities of snow on the Blue Mountains to rapidly melt.”
“Australia has been through the wringer this year. The disastrous bushfire season has led to a dramatic increase in carbon emissions, crazy conspiracy theories, firefighter deaths, some billions of dollars in damage, and the heartbreaking loss of more than a billion animals.
“A new report shows how more a hundred species on the continent are in peril as a result of these devastating fires.”
“While many fire-affected areas in NSW have welcomed the recent rain, the deluge has presented new problems for one industry already struggling after the horror bushfire season.
“Many of the state’s oyster farmers have watched over the past week as record rainfall inundated waterways with ash and debris.”
“A bushfire that raged for seven months has finally been put as heavy rain has helped to extinguish more than half of bushfires in NSW and the ACT in a week.
“The Lindfield Park Road Fire in Port Macquarie on the NSW mid-north coast began burning on July 18, 2019 and was extinguished on Wednesday.”
“An emergency flood warning has been issued for people in a town west of Brisbane as severe storms threaten to dump up to 250mm of rain in south-east Queensland.
“Jandowae Creek was expected to peak on Wednesday, potentially leading to major flooding in the town, the Western Downs regional council said.”
“Riau [Indonesia] has declared the emergency alert status for land and forest firesto warn residents of a possible haze crisis as the region enters the dry season.
“Three areas in the province, namely Siak regency, Bengkalis regency and Dumai city, had previously imposed the emergency alert to anticipate the expansion of forest and peatland fires that the areas…”
“Researchers… found traces of metals like cadmium, chromium, nickel and zinc that started showing up in the [Himalayan glacier’s] core around the 1780s, around the start of the Industrial revolution.
“The researchers said in their paper, “This indicates that contamination on the top of the Himalayas depended primarily on multidecadal changes in atmospheric circulation and secondarily on variations in emission sources during the last 200 y.”
“Just under a year ago, Ms Alice Posha fled her home in the middle of the night and then watched as it was swept away by floods.
“The torrential rain came from Cyclone Idai, one of the worst storms to hit Africa and the fiercest on record to strike Buhera, a district in the usually arid province of Manicaland in eastern Zimbabwe. Today, the scene in Buhera is entirely different. But the misery remains.”
“Deadly “day-night hot extremes” are increasing across the northern hemisphere due to climate change, a new study finds.
“And the number of people exposed to such events, also known as “compound hot extremes”, is likely to increase “several-fold” as temperatures continue to climb in the coming decades…”
“Pine Island Glacier, one of the fastest-shrinking glaciers in Antarctica, has just lost another huge chunk of ice to the sea, continuing a troubling trend that has become a near-annual occurrence in the last decade…
“In total, the icebergs measure about twice the size of Washington, D.C., in area (more than 130 square miles, or 350 square kilometers), according to The Washington Post.”
“A week of torrential downpours is underway across the Southeast and lower Mississippi Valley.
“With saturated ground and swollen rivers, the three-month outlook calls for the likelihood of major river flooding this spring in some of the same areas hard hit by last year’s historic floods.”
“This is the warmest winter [North Carolina] the National Weather Service has recorded since 1887, Badgett told McClatchy News. It’s on track to be in the top five warmest winters overall.
“Temperatures are also averaging 6 degrees above normal, and there have been few cooler-than-normal days, making snow chances slim, Badgett says.”
“...in the summer of 2012 the village flooded, along with nearby Hebden Bridge and much of West Yorkshire’s Calder valley [UK]. It was a “one-in-100-years” freak occurrence, residents were told. On Boxing Day 2015 it happened again…
“On Sunday morning it happened once more after torrential rainfall caused the Calder to swell to five metres (16ft) – a metre higher than the previous record…”
“The winter of 2019-20 also looks set to break a number of dubious records, including being the warmest winter on record – with temperatures currently 2.5 degrees higher than the winter of 2006–07, which holds the record.
“High-speed wind records across the country [Switzerland] have also been broken.”
“Two male badger cubs at a zoo in [Irkutsk] Siberia have woken from their winter slumber weeks earlier than usual this year because of an unseasonably mild spell of weather…
“On Monday, the temperature rose to 2 degrees Celsius. It was minus 24 C on the same day last year.”
“Turkey’s eastern provinces are struggling with record cold.
“In some places, temperatures dropped to minus 40 degrees Celsius… Eastern Turkey is usually the coldest part of the country in winter, but even for these areas, the reported values are unusually low.”
“Residents of Baghdad rushed to have snowball fights or take photographs Tuesday as the Iraqi capital woke carpeted in white by only its second snowfall in a century.
“The last recorded snowfall in the city was in 2008, but it was a quick and mostly slushy affair — and prior to that, it had been a century since Baghdad saw any flakes.”
“Zimbabwe’s government is scrambling to increase corn imports as more than 40% of the population don’t have access to enough food after the worst drought in four decades halved the harvest.”
“Massive swarms of locusts sweeping across much of east Africa have reached Uganda and Tanzania, the United Nations has said, threatening millions more people with hunger in an already fragile region.
“Tanzania has detected swarms in its northern border areas close to Mount Kilimanjaro…”
“Queensland [Australia] is set to endure more flood damage as multiple storms are set to dump a deluge on the state.
“A cyclone has also been identified by meteorologists over Noumea and is tracking down the state’s southeast coast. The worst of the cyclone is expected to hit on Thursday.”
“The heavy downpour that struck São Paulo [Brazil] from late afternoon on Sunday, February 9th, has caused destruction and chaos during the day.
“The storm caused rivers to overflow, dozens of floods, landslides and brought the city to a halt. The water level only began to lower in the early hours of Tuesday, February 11th.”
“Penguin colonies in some parts of the Antarctic have declined by more than 75% over the past half century, largely as a result of climate change, researchers say.
“Scientists discovered that colonies of chinstrap penguins — also known as ringed or bearded penguins — have dropped dramatically since they were last surveyed almost 50 years ago.”
“Half of the one million animal and plant species on Earth facing extinction are insects, and their disappearance could be catastrophic for humankind, scientists have said in a “warning to humanity”.
“”The current insect extinction crisis is deeply worrying,” said Pedro Cardoso, a biologist at the Finnish Museum of Natural History…”
“Unprecedented warming will dominate the coming decade, according to a new study, which said every year is likely to rank among the planet’s 10 hottest.
“Global temperatures are already consistently breaking records, with 2016 the warmest ever followed by 2019, data from the World Meteorological Organization show.”
You may recall that Hawaii had a very unusual summer in 2019, which saw over 200 high temperature records broken or equalled.
“It was an extremely wet January for much of Hawaii Island, with numerous gauges recording record rainfall for the first month of year, especially in East Hawaii…
“What’s amazing is these records are being broken with just half a month’s rainfall, essentially, because it really didn’t rain that much in the second half,” said Kevin Kodama, senior service hydrologist for the weather service…
“The gauge at Hakalau, about 14 miles north of Hilo, measured an eye-popping 46.09 inches of rain, eight times its January norm…”
“With high temperatures that [Japan ice] festival-goers put down to climate change, organisers were forced to truck in powder from distant towns for their signature sculptures in an unheard-of ice crisis.
“”This lack of snow is unprecedented,” said Yumato Sato, an official in charge of organising the snow festival…”
“Aucklanders [NZ] are being asked to cut their shower times in half as the city struggles with how fast water is being consumed.
“High temperatures are resulting in record-breaking water usage and rural residents, who rely on rainwater, are seeing waits of up to a month to get their tanks filled.”
“Fierce winds are toppling power poles and torrential rains are causing dangerous floodwater surges as wild weather batters eastern NSW… as rivers fill and overflow, emergency services are being stretched to their limits to conduct rescue operations for those stranded by rising floodwaters.”
“”Unprecedented” is the word that keeps being tied to the apocalyptic weather Australia has faced over the past few months…
“While the country is still grappling with the economic reality and human devastation caused by the fires, it’s easy to think the worst of this disaster is over. But unfortunately other extreme weather may yet occur this summer and these will also require safety preparations and rapid responses.”
“[Zimbabwe’s] |Minister of Industry and Commerce Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu has expressed shock at the ravaging drought in parts of Plumtree his home area after he visited his fields this weekend in the area and found his crops in a serious wilting and drying state.”
“At least three people have died and an estimated 200 others have been displaced following heavy rains and flash floods in Gauteng [South Africa].
“The disaster management centre in the province says the total cost of the damage caused by Saturday’s downpours, which caused road closures, accidents and forced some people to evacuate their homes, is not yet known.”
“Four rare mountain gorillas, including a pregnant female, have died in Uganda after being hit by lightning, a conservation group says.
“The three adult females and a male infant were found in Uganda’s Mgahinga National Park with “gross lesions” on their bodies indicating electrocution.”
“Rail operator Deutsche Bahn said Sunday it was halting long-distance train services in many parts of northwestern Germany because of disruptions caused by Storm Ciara, which also hit other countries in Europe… Several airports in Germany also had to cancel flights as the storm swept in from the north.”
“Some areas [of the UK] had a month and a half’s rainfall in 24 hours as gusts of more than 90mph swept the country on Sunday, with 178 flood warnings in place.
“Flights, ferries and trains were cancelled or delayed and drivers faced difficult conditions as flood water, fallen trees and other debris closed roads.”
I wonder if anyone can shed some light on this. We are in an era of weakening and distorted jet streams, thanks to the diminishing temperature gradient between the Arctic and the lower latitudes – so why the speed records [we saw another last Feb]?
Does sluggishness in one part of the jet stream compress and speed up another part?
“Experts are hailing a British Airways flight as the fastest subsonic New York to London journey.”
“A “bomb” cyclone with a central pressure of 929 millibars (mb) has formed between Greenland and Iceland, while another deep low pressure area has opened up over the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
“A “bomb” cyclone is defined as a low pressure area that deepens by at least 24mb in 24 hours.”
“The National Weather Service says Friday’s outbreak of tornadoes across Maryland and Virginia was “unprecedented,” with six twisters striking within one hour amid severe storms…
“Five tornadoes touched down across Maryland on Friday. Since 1950, only four tornadoes had struck in the state during February.”
“A gust of 209 mph was recorded atop a California peak on Sunday, a potential record that wowed forecasters monitoring a cold storm moving south through the state.
“The blast of wind was captured around 7:45 a.m. by an instrument at 9,186 feet on Kirkwood Mountain south of Lake Tahoe…”
“...this winter, no one was prepared for the aftershocks of the second major wildfire to hit Sonoma county [California] in three seasons – one that prompted widespread mandatory evacuations and panic.
“No one was prepared for the after-effects of weeks of power shutoffs, a preventative measure during high fire weather… Business owners still reeling from the cancelled bookings and loss of business…”
“From the Tigris to the Indus and the Yangtze to the Nile, rivers were essential to the emergence of human civilisation. Millennia later, hundreds of millions of people still depend on rivers to quench their thirst, grow food and make a living.
“And yet we are rapidly destroying the planet’s river systems, with serious implications for our economies, societies and even our survival.”
“While all eyes are pointed north towards Wuhan, the epicentre of a new coronavirus, and the possibility of a pandemic, my eyes are turned firmly south, towards the Antarctic and melting ice.”
“Antarctica has logged its hottest temperature on record, with an Argentinian research station thermometer reading 18.3C, beating the previous record by 0.8C.
“The reading, taken at Esperanza on the northern tip of the continent’s peninsula, beats Antarctica’s previous record of 17.5C, set in March 2015.”
“The east coast of Australia welcomed the heaviest drenching in years on Friday, dousing some of the country’s most damaging and long-running wildfires and easing a drought that has crippled farming across two states…
“…with the rain came flooding. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) issuing multiple warnings for rivers across Queensland and New South Wales.”
“Panic has set in as residents prepare for the onslaught of Cyclone Damien [NW Australia].
“Supermarket shelves have been stripped bare of meat, fresh fruit and vegetables and suppliers are racing to re-stock them as the countdown begins for heavy rainfall and damaging winds.”
“Residents of Southland are assessing the damage after New Zealand’s first ever category-red storm…
“Days of torrential rains washed away roads, forced the evacuation of 2,000 people and saw the country’s MetService issue its first red weather warning this week, in response to the worst flooding the region in the South Island has seen in decades.”
“Between October 17 and yesterday, drought disasters were declared in 116 districts across Thailand, legally obliging the government to provide assistance, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) reports.”
“…drought and prolonged heatwaves linked to the climate emergency devastated crops across Guatemala.
“As a result, record numbers of subsistence farming families are going hungry: health officials registered more than 15,300 cases of acute malnutrition in children under five last year – up nearly 24% from 2018.”
“A powerful and deadly storm system is leaving a path of destruction from the Florida Panhandle to Virginia.
“There are at least four deaths from the storm, including a Tennessee teacher who was killed when a tree fell on a bus. There were reports of at least nine tornadoes in the Carolinas on Thursday.”
“When you get a temperature of 19C recorded in Norway in January and in Moscow and St. Petersburg temperatures are nearly 10 degrees higher than the monthly average, following Moscow’s warmest ever 25 December, you know things can’t be right.”
“Bumblebees are in drastic decline across Europe and North America owing to hotter and more frequent extremes in temperatures, scientists say.
“A study suggests the likelihood of a bumblebee population surviving in any given place has declined by 30% in the course of a single human generation.”
“Overlapping environmental crises could tip the planet into a ‘global systemic collapse’, more than 200 global scientists have warned.
“Climate change, biodiversity loss, dwindling sources of fresh water and food, and extreme weather events from hurricanes to heatwaves will provide a monumental challenge to humanity in the 21st century.”
“As far as I know, your work is unique in pulling together stories from all over the world. Very sobering but a better and more complete view. Terrific and necessary work. Thank you!” – Simon
“With the inundation of so much depressing news, Justin Panopticon presents it in a succinct format that one can quickly go thru and see the big picture of climate and economics/politics to stay current and if a particle topic is of interest one can delve into the details… I try never to miss any of his posts…I am a Patreon of his work.”
– Karina S.
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About This Site
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.
“The coronavirus outbreak could leave the world economy in its worst state since the global financial crisis, with economic activity tipped to shrink through the first quarter of the year as manufacturing and travel falters.
“The coronavirus outbreak is causing travel demand across the whole Asia Pacific region to slump, data showed on Thursday… 
Japan – the world’s third largest economy – was contracting before the coronavirus outbreak: 
“‘Thousands of [Australian] businesses have had a horror start to the year with drought, bushfires and floods,’ she said today… 
“The true economic toll of the coronavirus outbreak on China’s floundering economy will most likely be a closely guarded state secret. The world’s factory has shut up shop and the disruption is reverberating through global supply chains. 
“In Dubai, the shopping malls and expat bars are as crowded as ever, but the economic outlook is not as sunny as the weather outside. Jobs figures are at their weakest for a decade, the low point of the financial crisis, as the city’s debts continue to bite.
“Europe is stuck in a rut and it’s getting dangerous. Monetary policy is looser than it’s ever been and there’s little chance it will tighten any time soon. Is helicopter money the way out? 
Germany is the world’s fourth largest economy: 
“Exuberant equity markets have been telling one story since the coronavirus first escaped control in Wuhan. The bond, currency, and commodity markets are reading from a different, darker script. 
“JCB, the British digger maker, has cut working hours and suspended overtime for 4,000 UK employees after the coronavirus outbreak prompted a shortage in parts coming from China… JCB’s decision came as companies around the world counted the mounting cost of disruption caused by the coronavirus,
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“Some forecast models show an extreme solution, with the storm’s pressure dropping below 920 millibars into the 910s. 
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“In Japan, record low snowfall has forced ski resorts to close prematurely. In Finland, forests that would normally be stark and bare at this time of year appear lush after what was an “exceptionally” warm January. And in one county in Michigan, municipal workers who usually spend winter plowing snow have taken to trimming trees. 
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“Storm Ciara struck [Italy’s] northern regions, where winds reached speeds of over 200 kilometres per hour
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“CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — 
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“While many fire-affected areas in NSW have welcomed the recent rain, the deluge has presented new problems for one industry already struggling after the horror bushfire season. 
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“Just under a year ago, Ms Alice Posha fled her home in the middle of the night and then watched as it was swept away by floods.
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“A week of torrential downpours is underway across the Southeast and lower Mississippi Valley. 
“Heavy flooding in our area is breaking records. 
“The city of Naples [Florida] warmed to 89 degrees this afternoon, eclipsing the previous record high for Feb. 10 of 86 degrees set in 2018. 
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You may recall that Hawaii had a very unusual summer in 2019, which saw over 200 high temperature records broken or equalled.
“With high temperatures that [Japan ice] festival-goers put down to climate change, organisers were forced to truck in powder from distant towns for their signature sculptures in an unheard-of ice crisis
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I wonder if anyone can shed some light on this. We are in an era of weakening and distorted jet streams, thanks to the diminishing temperature gradient between the Arctic and the lower latitudes – so why the speed records [we saw another last Feb]? 
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“The National Weather Service says Friday’s outbreak of tornadoes across Maryland and Virginia was “unprecedented,” with six twisters striking within one hour amid severe storms… 
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“From the Tigris to the Indus and the Yangtze to the Nile, rivers were essential to the emergence of human civilisation. Millennia later, hundreds of millions of people still depend on rivers to quench their thirst, grow food and make a living. 
“It seems I am ever the contrarian. 
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