“The first five months of 2019 have been among Earth’s top three warmest in 140 years of temperature records, according to a just-released analysis.
“NOAA said Tuesday that global average temperatures across all land and ocean surfaces were third warmest for any January-through-May period, ranking only behind 2016 and 2017, in records dating to 1880.
“Parts of central and southern Africa, southeast Asia, southern Brazil, the western Pacific Ocean, the Barents Sea, northwest Canada and northeast Alaska were among the areas that experienced a record warm first five months of 2019, according to NOAA.
“Australia shattered its record warm January-May period in 2019, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology noted.
“This was despite notable cold over a swath of Canada and the central United States. It was the seventh coldest January-May on record in South Dakota.”
“Scientists say 2019 could be another annus horribilis for the Arctic with record temperatures already registered in Greenland—a giant melting icicle that threatens to submerge the world’s coastal areas one day.
“”It’s possible that we could break the records set in 2012 for both lowest Arctic sea ice extent … and for record high Greenland ice sheet melt,” warned Ruth Mottram, a climatologist at the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI).”
“A starving polar bear has strayed hundreds of kilometres from its natural Arctic habitat and wandered, exhausted, into the major Russian industrial city of Norilsk in northern Siberia.
“The female bear, visibly weak and seemingly ill, lay despondently on the ground for hours on Tuesday in Norilsk’s suburbs, its feet caked in mud, occasionally rising to sniff around for food. It is the first polar bear seen in the city in more than 40 years.”
“As of June 18, more than 9,000 people were out of their homes due to wildfires in Alberta, including about 700 from the Paddle Prairie Métis Settlement, who were forced to leave May 26.
“Three areas were evacuated Monday, including several communities to the south of High Level overnight, as the driest conditions in more than 40 years continue to fuel wildfires in the region.”
“A wet spring and dangerous flooding [in Illinois] have created a nasty byproduct — more mosquitoes… mosquitoes that carry West Nile Virus prefer hot, dry conditions.
“But nuisance mosquitoes that flourish in wet weather can still pose a threat.
“A bite from one of them can become infected if it is scratched and becomes a wound.”
“The flooding that devastated the Midwest this spring damaged infrastructure and prevented farmers from getting crops planted on time.
“Though scientists can’t say if one storm or one wet season is the result of climate change, so far this year’s heavy rains are a perfect illustration of what scientific models of climate change predict for the region.
“More record high temperatures have been set in the Hawaiian islands in the days leading up to the summer solstice, officially the first day of summer, on Friday.
“On Monday, the National Weather Service noted one tie and two record-breaking highs…”
“”We had monsoon conditions at the start”, says Nina Barbour.
“For many British businesses, this long spell of wet weather has been challenging and costly. Nina Barbour is director of Bolesworth Estate, where one of the country’s biggest equestrian events went ahead last week – but was closed to the public.
“The financial implications of this are huge,” she tells BBC Radio 5 Live’s Wake Up to Money programme.”
“The UK’s Brassica Growers Association is warning of a potential shortage of supplies to customers following extremely high levels of rainfall in the key growing county of Lincolnshire in the east of England.
“The association said a month of rain fell on brassica crops in Lincolnshire in a single day last week and that growers across the key production area are assessing the damage and the impact on consumers.”
“The enormous volume of plastic waste, wood and vegetation that washed up in South Africa’s Port of Durban after heavy rains and flooding has been revealed in new footage.
“Some 70 people were killed during the floods in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces while 1,000 more were forced from their homes. Heavy rains tore down homes and ravaged infrastructure, causing a deluge of plastic and other debris to flow into the port…”
“Those unfathomably hot temperatures, recorded in Kuwait in 2016 and Pakistan in 2017, have officially been confirmed as the Earth’s 3rd and 4th hottest temperatures on record, scientists from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced Tuesday.”
“Kuwait Municipality announced on Tuesday (June 18) that street cleaners’ working hours have been rescheduled due to the current heatwave, in order to ensure their wellbeing.
“Ahmad Al Manfouhi, the Director-General of Kuwait Municipality said in a press release that this decision revised the cleaners’ working hours from 3:00am to 11:00am in the summer season, and from 4:00am to 12:00pm during winter.”
“Bihar [India] alone is not suffering because of searing temperatures. Over the past month, parts of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Telangana, and Maharashtra have witnessed record temperatures.
“Many studies have established that the frequency and intensity of heatwaves in India are rising… Deaths due to heatwaves are also showing an increasing trend.”
“On June 5, it drizzled for about ten minutes over most of Marathwada in India’s western state of Maharashtra.
“The brief mizzle made headlines in the local media, because it was the first time since August 17, 2018, that anyone had seen a drop of rain in the region, the epicentre of the drought that is now afflicting almost half of India.”
“China is tragically hit by heavy rains and flooding this week which left approximately 4 million hectares of farmlands submerged in water… China’s agriculture sector has been one of its most reliable GDP contributor with vast lands dedicated to farming.
“The country is also a major exporter of agricultural products including rice, tomatoes, peas, and cotton.
“There are over 300 million Chinese who are into farming in China, and a significant proportion of them lives in the South Central region where the recent flooding took place.”
“South Sudan, Yemen and the Horn of Africa remain as the areas of greatest concern to food and water security monitoring agencies, due to their poor economic and food production conditions, which are often exacerbated by ongoing conflict.
“Across the world, 85 million people are expected to require emergency food assistance in 2019, an 80 per cent increase compared to 2015…
“…severe food and water insecurity is now occurring with greater regularity.”
“March through May — spring in the Northern Hemisphere — was the second warmest such period in records dating back to 1880, according to a new analysis out today from NASA…
“…the high latitudes continue to warm more intensely than other regions, with Alaska, parts of Canada and northern Siberia standing out as being extremely warm. That’s clearly visible in the anomaly maps above.
“Most recently, torrid temperatures as much as 40 degrees above normal over Greenland caused about 45 percent of the island’s giant ice sheet to experience melting at the surface.
“The Arctic’s floating lid of sea ice is suffering as well…”
“In the Chesapeake Bay and along the Gulf Coast, people can contract a dangerous flesh-eating bacterial infection after eating or handling raw shellfish.
“Infections caused by Vibriovulnificus can result in tissue death, and sometimes lead to limb amputations. Fortunately they’re also rare in the US.
“But a case report published today in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that rising ocean temperatures may lead the bacteria to spread to previously unaffected waters.”
“With the Arctic’s warming from climate change, Arctic ecosystems are changing, too. Boreal forests are moving northward into the tundra, and tundra is expanding into polar desert, bringing along new populations of animals and insects that can spread diseases from the south.
“But not only can a changing climate increase the range of disease vectors like mosquitoes, ticks, and rodents: it can also make it easier for them to survive.”
“Accelerating erosion is forcing villages in western Alaska to begin making plans to move. Alaska’s Energy Desk reported Monday that erosion caused by climate change threatens village infrastructure and could force the relocation of communities such as Quinhagak…
“Officials say erosion now threatens Quinhagak’s airstrip, water treatment plant and water and sewer system.”
““I’ve had three-tenths of an inch of rain since seeding, so [the crop] needs a drink of water,” Wellman said. Wellman is one of many farmers looking skyward as drought conditions take hold of the province [Saskatchewan, Canada].
“Saskatoon and Moose Jaw had the driest spring ever recorded for the cities.”
“Corn prices are rising this spring as heavy rains across the Midwest lay waste to this year’s crop.
“On Monday, the corn futures price for July opened at $4.54 per bushel — the highest it’s been in five years, according to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
“The price leap comes as growers continue battling to get their corn in the ground.”
“Following clusters of severe thunderstorms that will unleash localized flooding through Tuesday, a more widespread severe weather episode that may unleash tornadoes is likely on Wednesday in part of the central United States. Into Tuesday night, the weather pattern will produce complexes of heavy, gusty and locally severe thunderstorms over parts of the Plains and the Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee valleys.”
“Major landslides in central Colombia have destroyed the road that connects the eastern plains with the rest of the country.
“A number of landslides in Guayabetal, some 50 kilometers southeast of the capital Bogota, is severely complicating transport, the food supply and trade to the eight provinces that makes up the eastern plains.”
“The director of the National Emergency Committee [Uruguay], Juan Andrés Roballo, estimated that there are more than 3,000 people displaced by the flood of rivers and streams throughout the country.
“The number of displaced people could be further increased in the coming hours, taking into account the accumulated rainfall in the Yi River and the rainfall forecast for the region, said Roballo.”
“Sunday was the fifth-consecutive day a daily record high was set or tied in Honolulu. Numerous record highs have been set in Honolulu and other parts of Hawaii since mid-May.
“Warmer-than-average sea-surface temperatures are playing a role in the record-breaking temperatures.”
“Australia on Tuesday lowered its forecast for wheat exports over the 2019/20 season by nearly 18% as a drought wilts crops in the world’s No.4 exporter of the grain.
“That comes after Australia’s chief commodity forecaster last week cut its production forecast for the 2019/20 harvest by more than 11% as the drought leaves crops struggling to survive.”
“At least five people died as of 5 a.m. Monday after rain-triggered floods and landslides hit southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, local authorities said Monday.
“Torrential rain swept Guangxi’s Lingyun County late Sunday and triggered landslides that killed two people. Multiple vehicles were carried by flash floods at a road section from Lingyun to Baise. Rescuers have found four vehicles and three people were confirmed dead.”
“As the impacts of climate change become more apparent worldwide, members of the public are connecting more weather events to the phenomenon. In March and April, for example, extreme heat baked mainland Southeast Asia.
“On April 20, Vietnam set an all-time observed record high temperature, 43 degrees Celsius (110 degrees Fahrenheit), and neighboring Cambodia suffered as well.
“This led to public criticism there that deforestation in the country has contributed to elevated temperatures.”
“In the age of borewells, the emphasis has to revert to traditional harvesting [in India]. Recharging the depleting groundwater in a sustainable manner is urgently required. But this cannot be in isolation.
“Destroying forests, water bodies, catchment areas in the name of development must cease. Otherwise, crossing the Rubicon may turn out to be catastrophic.”
“A woman gets stabbed with a knife by a neighbour over a water dispute. No, this is not the imagery of the dystopian situation that awaits us in future. Instead, it is very much the reality of our times [Tamil Nadu, India].”
“Torrential rains and widespread flooding across 12 governorates in Yemen in recent weeks have affected tens of thousands of people, leaving many in urgent need of emergency assistance.
“Humanitarian assessments are ongoing, but preliminary reports from local authorities indicate that more than 80,000 people have been impacted. Initial reports are that the floods have also claimed at least three lives, but the full extent of casualties is still not known.”
“A regional drought has reduced water levels at Kariba Dam, the main source of power for Zambia and Zimbabwe, to less than a third of its capacity. The dam is only 29% full, compared with 88% a year ago and 31% at the start of June, the Zambezi River Authority said in an emailed statement on Tuesday.
“Zimbabwean Energy Minister Fortune Chasi warned last month that Zimbabwe will suspend electricity production at Kariba in September if current rates of depletion continue.”
“This June, Russia has been experiencing well above normal temperatures. Moscow hit 32°C last week with thousands of residents evacuated from their homes, many of which lack air condition systems. The heat has been on during the final stretch of spring across many other areas of northern Europe, where daytime temperature records have been the norm.
“Now residents are especially concerned that this summer will be another scorcher in many areas of the continent.”
“The point is, the Northern Hemisphere is really, really hot right now and summer has barely begun.
“If it seems like these record heat waves are happening more often, that’s because they are — and, according to a new study published today (June 17) in the journal Nature Climate Change, this scorching trend will continue for most of the globe every single year…”
“”It was incredible, really incredible”, [Natali] recalls while speaking to me from The Woods Hole Research Center, Massachusetts, where she is an associate scientist. “I still get chills when I think about it… I just couldn’t believe the magnitude: collapsing cliffs the size of multi-storey buildings … and as you walk along you see what look like logs poking out the permafrost. But they aren’t logs, they are the bones of mammoths and other Pleistocene animals.”
“What Natali describes is the visible, dramatic effects of a rapidly warming Arctic. The permafrost – up until now, permanently frozen land and soil – is thawing out, and revealing its hidden secrets. Alongside Pleistocene fossils are massive carbon and methane emissions, toxic mercury, and ancient diseases.”
“While in Greenland this Thursday (June 13) Steffen Olsen, a climate researcher, took a photo which appeared to show his sled dogs miraculously splashing across the surface of a huge lake.
“In fact Steffen was on a half-melted ice sheet which was so badly thawed that a lake had appeared on its surface, the water was just shallow enough his dogs could run across the ice creating the illusion they were channelling the powers of Christ.”
“High-volume pumps are being used to reduce flood waters in a Lincolnshire town [UK] where nearly 600 homes have been evacuated.
“Police have advised residents in around 590 properties in Wainfleet and neighbouring areas to evacuate amid concerns about flood defences along the river Steeping. Parts of the market town near Skegness flooded on Wednesday after more than two months’ worth of rain fell in two days.”
“France will declare a state of natural disaster after rain and hail storms lashed a swathe of the south-east on Saturday, devastating crops. The flash storms, which brought hailstones as big as pingpong balls to some areas, killed two people in France and Switzerland, and injured at least 10 others.
“The worst-hit area, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alps region, is at the heart of France’s food production and known as the “orchard of France”.”
You may recall Corsica had snow in the middle of May:
“Corsica’s capital, Ajaccio, did make a new record. A measurement of 40.1C. This beats the standing June record by 1.6 degrees and is only shy of the all-time record of 40.3C set in July 1983.”
“The National Weather Service measured a temperature of 35.8 Celsius in Budakalász, north of Budapest, on Saturday, 0.8 C higher than the earlier record read at several localities in 1987.
“The heat record of Budapest was also broken with 34.7 Celsius measured in Újpest, a northern district, surpassing the previous record of 34.2 C read in 1986.”
“…even by Iraq’s own standards, this June has been a sizzler – averaging a daily 48 deg C, compared to around 40 deg C in previous years.
“Across the country, Iraqis have sprung into usual routines to cope: wrapping outside door handles in tape to stop them getting too hot in the sun, keeping a change of clothes in the car, or stepping fully clothed into curbside showers to cool off.”
“Tens of thousands have fled drought-stricken villages across northern India as a record-breaking heat wave that has killed scores of people drags on and water supplies dwindle…
“In the northern states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan fighting has broken out over scarce water supplies, with police deployed to protect water trucks and wells.”
“Almost half of India – an area home to more than 500 million people – is facing drought-like conditions while a blistering heatwave has killed dozens of people in the impoverished eastern state of Bihar.
“As the country suffers its lowest rainfall ahead of a monsoon season in more than six decades, the western state of Maharashtra witnesses its worst drought in 47 years, forcing many to leave their lands and take shelter in relief camps, as they wait for monsoon rains.”
“Queensland’s emergency services are planning for more catastrophic weather events – including 30-day heatwaves and 43-degree peak temperatures – as the effects of climate change turn up the heat on regional parts of the state.
“The state government commissioned the Queensland State Heatwave Risk Assessment 2019 following the extended heatwave over much of the state in late 2018, which culminated in “catastrophic” fire conditions.”
“This afternoon an intense hail fell in several parts of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area [Mexico, which left intense floods, tree falls and dozens of vehicles stranded on the roads.”
“The Happy Spot was a little depressed. Dozens of corn farmers and those who sell them seed, chemicals and equipment gathered on Thursday at the restaurant in Deer Grove, Illinois, after heavy rains caused unprecedented delays in planting this year and contributed to record floods across the central United States.
“Forecasts for even more rain sent U.S. corn futures to a five-year high on Friday, though fewer farmers will benefit from soaring prices because of the planting disruptions.”
“Like farmers throughout the Midwest, this spring’s torrential rains turned Andrew Dunham’s land into sticky muck that set him back nearly a month in planting his crops.
“Unlike other farmers, though, Dunham won’t get a piece of a $16 billion aid package to offset his losses and he can’t fall back on federally subsidized crop insurance because he grows herbs, flowers and dozens of vegetable varieties, but not the region’s dominant crops of corn and soybeans.”
“People in the province [of New Brunswick, Canada] are talking about climate change in a way they never would have a few years ago.
“For the second straight year, hundreds of homes were evacuated and long stretches of the Trans-Canada Highway were underwater. Even officials who manage flood response seemed surprised at the level of destruction this spring.”
“Global heating could bring many more bouts of severe drought as well as increased flooding to Africa than previously forecast, scientists have warned.
“New research says the continent will experience many extreme outbreaks of intense rainfall over the next 80 years. These could trigger devastating floods, storms and disruption of farming. In addition, these events are likely to be interspersed with more crippling droughts during the growing season…”
“Drought-hit Namibia has authorised the sale of at least 1,000 wild animals – including elephants and giraffes – to limit loss of life and generate US$1.1 million for conservation, the authorities confirmed Saturday…
“The authorities declared a national disaster last month, and the meteorological services in the southern African nation estimate that some parts of the country faced the deadliest drought in as many as 90 years.”
“Dr. John Spicer of the University of Plymouth and Dr. Simon Morley of the British Antarctic Survey teamed up to see what kind of effect the warming oceans and their lower oxygen levels had on Antarctic species…
““Unless they adapt, many larger marine invertebrates will either shrink in size of face extinction, which would have a profoundly negative impact on the ecosystems of which they are a part. This is obviously a major cause for concern,” Spicer said.”
“Lithuanian temperatures have hit record June highs, meteorologists said Thursday, as a heatwave forced school closures and threatened to reduce harvests in the draught-hit Baltic region.
“Kaisiadorys in central Lithuania was the hottest place at 35.7 degrees Celsius (96.2 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, the highest-ever temperature recorded for June in the country, weather forecaster Paulius Starkus told AFP.”
“”According to the observations of the weather stations… on June 11 in Kyiv the warmest night since 1881 was recorded.
“The stem of the thermometer was not lower than +20,2°С, which is by 0,3°С more than the highest indicators in 1999…
“On the next day, on Wednesday, the temperature at night was not lower than +21,3°С, which means that the previous record indicator was +20,2°С in 1957 was higher by 1,1°С,” the message reads.””
“May was a black month for Israel – the colour of a charred landscape. More than 1000 wildfires started across the country, spreading out of control in unseasonable heat that many attributed to climate change.
“Israel suffered a three-day extreme heat wave that broke record temperatures for the month of May and reached 45 degrees Celsius.”
“At least 61 people have been killed and 356,000 evacuated from their homes as heavy rain and floods swept through large parts of southern and central China this week, Chinese rescue authorities said…
“The emergency ministry has warned that northern regions face even lower precipitation levels this year, while heavy rains are expected to raise flood risks on the Yellow River’s upstream.”
“This is the horrific moment a landslide of mud and water pushes dozens of cars and trucks out of the way in southern China…
“China’s disaster reduction committee said more than 7,000 houses have collapsed and more than 300,000 people have been evacuated as flood waters reached as high as two metres (6.5 feet) in some areas.”
“These dry conditions combined with high temperatures, including the hottest Australian summer on record during late 2018 to early 2019, has had an alarming impact on water resources.
“Specifically, the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), which spans across a vast area of southeast Australia and is one the most significant agricultural regions in the country, is being impacted.”
“…the researchers believe the Totten Glacier region of Antarctica has lost 1.4 billion tonnes of water – enough to fill 570,000 Olympic swimming pools – which was stored as ice.
“”This is very concerning, since a destabilisation of the ice sheet in that region could affect the global sea level by many metres,” Dr Tregoning said.”
“The past couple of months have brought record high temperatures across parts of the state… Between Honolulu and Kahului, six records have been set over the past seven days, with temperatures exceeding 90 degrees. ..
“”I do believe we’re involved in climate change. Whether you call it global warming or whatever, the climate is changing,” said Kahala resident John Howell.”
“Local authorities in the city of Hermosillo, Sonora, are taking emergency measures in the face of some of the worst heat the city has ever experienced…
“On both Monday and Tuesday, the 48-degree temperature also won Hermosillo the distinction of being the hottest city on the planet, beating out desert cities in the Middle East.”
“Another day of brutal heat was forecast Thursday for the Phoenix area and the entire Desert Southwest, a day after the city tied a record high of 112 degrees…
“The extreme heat has already ended across most of California and Oregon, after several days of record to near-record highs in cities such as San Francisco and Portland. San Francisco hit 100 degrees on Monday for only the 7th time ever recorded, AccuWeather said.”
“US Forest Service and Interior Department officials warned senators Thursday that the upcoming wildfire season [in California] would be worse than last year’s…
“”It’s hard to imagine a repeat of this experience, but this is the potential reality that we face again this year,” said Jeff Rupert, director of the Office of Wildland Fire for the Interior Department, during his opening remarks at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing.”
“U.S. farmers are millions of acres behind their usual pace of corn planting this spring because of flooding, which may lead to a supply shortage that lifts prices by year end to their highest in five years.”
“For the second day in a row, the rising mercury sent temperature records tumbling across southern B.C. Environment Canada says no fewer than a dozen and a half new records were set on Wednesday, one of them 101 years old.”
“A city in western Alaska has lost a huge stretch of riverbank to erosion that may turn it into an island, amid renewed warnings from scientists over the havoc triggered by the accelerating melting of the state’s ice and permafrost.
“Residents of the small city of Akiak were alarmed to find the Kuskokwim River suddenly much closer to housing after approximately 75ft to 100ft of riverbank disappeared over the course of just a few hours.”
“A major warm spell has caused nearly half the surface of the Greenland ice sheet to start melting, something that’s highly unusual for this time of year… the gears could already be in motion for record-setting melt on the ice sheet’s western flank.
“Greenland has been scorching (by Greenland standards) for the past few days, with temperatures rising 10-20 degrees Celsius (18-36 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal across the island.”
“The Arctic summer has a long way to go, but already sea ice levels over great swathes of the sprawling Arctic ocean are at historic lows (in the 40-year-long satellite record) for this time of year.
“The most striking declines are in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, located above Alaska…
“”Every year we smash a record that we’re shocked at,” said Jeremy Mathis, a longtime Arctic researcher and a current board director at the National Academies of Sciences.”
“The fires are now raging some 10 to 15 kilometres from the megaslump crater – a large hole in the frozen Arctic soil which highlights the dramatic speed of thawing permafrost.
“The Batagaika or Batagai “megaslump” is a tadpole-shaped depression around one kilometre long, 800 metres wide and 100 metres deep. It is growing by some 15 to 30 metres a year – but if it is hit by the nearby inferno this would destroy trees on its rim and loosen the soil even more, resulting in further collapses.”
“Large parts of the UK are in drought. That seems ludicrous after a week of relentless rain, floods and travel chaos on roads and rail, with even more rain to come. However, it has gone largely unnoticed how dry much of Britain has been up to now.
“For large parts of the south and east there has been little rain for much of the past 12 months and the spring was especially dry. That has left groundwater and aquifer levels across much of the country much lower than normal.”
“Flash flooding caused a powerful waterfall to surge over a cliff just metres away from houses in Italy.
“Extremely heavy rainfall has ravaged the countryside around Brescia, near Verona, northern Italy, and created the new natural wonder on June 11. Photographer Dario Bonzi, 28, filmed the frightening waterfall roaring 100 metres down the hillside next to a house in the village of Piancogno.”
“The lowest Arctic sea ice extent in the 40-year satellite record for this time of year was set on June 10 with just 10.901 million square kilometers of ice remaining, dipping just below the previous record set in 2016 of 10.919 million square kilometers.
“This year’s record is likely to deepen at least for the coming days.”
“In the Beaufort Sea, sea ice extent is currently at 684,000 sg/km, which is more typical of what it would be in mid-August. The longer term average for this date is 905,000 sq/km.
“The warmth is not just confined to Alaska. Much of Siberia is rapidly warming as well. Temperatures actually reached the mid-80s in northern Russia this past weekend, which is about 30-35 degrees above normal. This is not all that unusual anymore.”
“At least 60 dead ice seals have been found along the coast of the Bering and Chukchi seas in Alaska, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“The agency said NOAA Fisheries is investigating reports of “unusually large numbers” of dead ice seals in the area. Ice seals are so named because they live in the Alaskan Arctic. The species includes bearded, ringed and spotted seals.”
“Maybe 80 degrees in June doesn’t sound like cool relief. But after the scorcher expected Wednesday — when the high is predicted to hit 90 in the interior of Western Washington and 87 in the Seattle area — it may feel like a respite.
“Several places in Western Washington broke temperature records on Tuesday.”
“Heat warnings and/or advisories were in effect Tuesday for a number of major metro areas in the West, including Las Vegas, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento and San Francisco.
“In Palm Springs, California, where highs could hit 114 degrees Tuesday and Wednesday, officials warned the high temperatures could cause heat exhaustion, heat cramps or heat stroke.”
“At the beginning of the twentieth century, though, a faint fixed pattern becomes discernible among the randomness, a quiet but strengthening note against a background symphony.
“Some regions—California, the Mediterranean, Australia—dry out.
“It is a small, almost imperceptible-to-humans drying, but it is a pattern that no natural cycle can reproduce.”
“As heavy rain threatens to trigger more flooding in parts of the United Kingdom into Thursday morning, some areas have already recorded double the typical June rainfall earlier this week.
Bouts of heavy rain caused areas in the central U.K. to record twice the amount of rain that typically falls each June in two days earlier this week.”
“Parts of the province of Lecco in Lombardy [Italy] were left underwater in Italy’s latest bout of extreme weather, which came as the centre and south of the country braced itself for an early heatwave.
“Homes, farms and a campsite had to be evacuated after severe storms overnight left rivers dangerously swollen.”
“More than 200 households in Marigat town in Baringo South [Kenya] spent the night in the cold after their houses were submerged following heavy downpour pounding the area.
“The flash floods happened after Perkerra River burst its banks causing water to flow into adjacent homes in the locality, sweeping away some of the bridges within Marigat town.”
“Torrential rains and flooding have affected thousands of people in Yemen and may escalate the spread of cholera, the United Nations warned on Wednesday.
“Nearly 70,000 people across the country, including internally displaced people, have been affected by torrential rains and flash flooding in recent weeks, culminating in widespread flooding in the second week of June…”
“A city in India held a wedding ceremony for two frogs in the belief it will encourage rainfall in a country gripped by drought.
“The heatwave has killed 36 people so far, as the capital Delhi recorded its highest-ever temperature of 48C on Tuesday, while Churu in the northwestern state of Rajasthan witnessed temperatures as high as 51C.”
“India’s sugar production could fall as much as 15% in 2019/20 from the year before as severe drought hits a key growing region…
“Millions of Indians have been desperately awaiting overdue monsoon rains as they struggle to secure drinking water amid a heat wave that has been rapidly drying up reservoirs and sending temperatures soaring across the country.”
“At least 49 people have died and 14 others are missing since heavy rainfall hit southern China in early June, authorities said today.
“Floods, landslides and mudslides triggered by the downpours have affected more than 4.5 million people in eight provinces.
“China’s disaster reduction committee said more than 7,000 houses have collapsed and more than 300,000 people have been evacuated as flood waters reached as high as two metres (6.5 feet) in some areas.”
“Heavy rainfall in parts of central Indonesia in early June has led to severe flooding and landslides, affecting tens of thousands of people, local authorities said on Wednesday (June 12).
“The national disaster mitigation agency said the torrential rains in the provinces of South Sulawesi, South-East Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi and East Kalimantan flooded and carried away buildings.”
“We looked at data from 1960 to 2010 from every high-quality weather station in the State and there is a clear pattern, with drought increasing in the south of the State [South Australia] and over the Murray-Darling Basin, which is the food bowl of Australia,” Prof Beecham says.
“The study, published in a Royal Meteorological Society journal, also indicates there has been significant long-term reductions in rainfall at the most problematic time of year, which is through autumn and winter.”
“Four people died in ‘unbearable’ heat while travelling by train in northern India, which has been in the grip of a heatwave for two weeks, officials and passengers said Tuesday.
“The four died Monday while travelling from Agra — the city of the Taj Mahal — to Coimbatore in the country’s south…
“”Shortly after we left Agra, the heat became unbearable and some people started complaining of breathing problems and uneasiness,” a passenger was quoted as saying by News18 television.
“”Before we could get some help, they collapsed.””
“Even as most parts of north India reel under an intense heat wave, the upper reaches of Kashmir Valley recently received fresh snowfall – quite uncharacteristic for this time of the year…
“There has been incessant rainfall in many parts of the state for several days in the 48 hours leading up to Tuesday.”
“Hundreds of Indian villages have been evacuated as a historic drought forces families to abandon their homes in search of water. The country has seen extremely high temperatures in recent weeks.
“On Monday the capital, Delhi, saw its highest ever June temperature of 48C. In Rajasthan, the city of Churu recently experienced highs of 50.8C, making it the hottest place on the planet.”
“Tropical Cyclone Vayu could become the strongest cyclone to strike northwestern India in decades. It comes one month after powerful Tropical Cyclone Fani slammed into India’s northeastern coastline.
“On Wednesday, Tropical Cyclone Vayu will pass about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Mumbai before making landfall in Gujarat state on India’s western coast on Thursday.”
“Sharing the findings of the Everest region drilling project ‘EverDrill (2016-2019)’, lead scientist from the UK-based University of Leeds Duncan Quincey said more than half of the ablation area of Khumbu glacier contained warm ice.
““We found that 56 per cent of the ablation area of Khumbu glacier comprised warm ice,and even the coldest ice is only 3.3°C lower than the melting point,” he told THT.”
“A man died in Kuwait yesterday as the country reels from a heatwave. The man, who died because of a heatstroke, was found with his tools next to his body… Kuwait on Saturday recorded the highest temperatures in the world; reaching 52.2 degrees Celsius in the shadows and 63 degrees Celsius under direct sunlight…
“The heatwave is expected to continue well into the summer season, which officially kicks off on June 21.”
“Summer has come suddenly in many parts of the country [Italy], with temperatures shooting into the early 30s in recent days after a cool, wet spring.
“The mercury is set to climb even higher on Thursday and Friday, with forecasters predicting 36C in Rome, 37C in Florence, up to 38C in parts of Puglia and as high as 42C in inland Sicily.”
“There are signs record-setting heat waves are beginning anew this Northern Hemisphere summer – signalling, perhaps, that these exceptional and widespread heat spells are now the norm.
“Just in the past few days, blistering, abnormal heat has afflicted several parts of the Northern Hemisphere…
“Heat spread unusually far north, even up into the northern reaches of Scandinavia. Mika Rantanen, a meteorologist at the University of Helsinki, tweeted last Friday that “[t]here are no known cases in Finland’s climate history when it has been hotter than now so early in the summer.””
“Record high temperatures have been shattered in the West to start this week, and more records will fall along portions of the Pacific coast into the middle of this week…
“San Bernardino, California, sizzled at 102, 104 and 109 F from Sunday through Tuesday, respectively, while the mercury registered 105, 107 and 109 in Ontario, California, from Sunday through Tuesday, respectively.”
“Torrential downpours have flooded huge swaths of the Midwest and the Southeast since last week.
“Rain over the weekend triggered flash floods in several states, including Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Florida. In some states, more than a month’s worth of rain fell in a day. Beyond flash floods, rivers rising more slowly in places like Iowa have threatened drinking water.”
“Corn planting has been at an all-time low percentage for the last four reports and remains behind schedule in 15 of the 18 states monitored. Soybean planting is behind in 16 of the 18 key soybean-producing states, according to the report. So far, just 60% of soybean planting has taken place…
“And Indiana farmer Don Lamb wrote on his blog, “The geographical area of this challenge is huge. Every farmer is affected, of course, but with every farmer there are multiple relationships that will suffer financial consequences. The amount of seed, pesticides, fuel, fertilizer, and services that are NOT going to be sold is staggering.””
“Like her parents, and their parents before them, 60-year-old Betarco lives from subsistence farming — growing beans, rice, corn and wheat. However in recent years, the land hasn’t yielded enough to subsist on.
“”I don’t know how many more years I’ll be able to stay living here on this land, in these conditions — whether I’m going to starve to death,” Betarco told DW. “Because that’s what this land might have in store for us: death.”
“Australia on Wednesday cut its wheat production forecast for the 2019/20 harvest by more than 11% as an unrelenting drought across the country’s east coast threatens crops for a third year in a row…
“That would be 14% below the 10-year average of 24.7 tonnes, and mean a third straight year of lower-than-average production – crippling growers and exporting companies, and providing a hurdle to an economy that is already threatening to stall.”
“At least 16 people have died in heavy rain and flooding that struck southern China over the past week. Twelve others remain missing in the region, the Xinhua News Agency also reported Tuesday.
“The storms are far from over – heavy rain was expected to continue for another day, the regional meteorological bureau said. Emergency supplies, including bamboo mats and cotton quilts, were being delivered to the affected areas in southern China.”
“Arctic sinkholes are appearing across the Canadian High Arctic as permafrost — ice expected to be frozen year-round — thaws and collapses due to climate change, according to research published Monday.
“Researchers found maximum thaw depths had already exceeded what they had expected to occur by 2090, according to the report published in Geophysical Research Letters journal.
“At one site, Mould Bay, the level of thawing was 240% higher than historic norms.”
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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.
“The first five months of 2019 have been among Earth’s top three warmest in 140 years of temperature records, according to a just-released analysis.
“May 2019 will go down as the fourth-warmest May on record according to the latest report from the National Center for Environmental Information. 
“Scientists say 2019 could be another annus horribilis for the Arctic with record temperatures already registered in Greenland—a giant melting icicle that threatens to submerge the world’s coastal areas one day. 
“A starving polar bear has strayed hundreds of kilometres from its natural Arctic habitat and wandered, exhausted, into the major Russian industrial city of Norilsk in northern Siberia. 
“As of June 18, more than 9,000 people were out of their homes due to wildfires in Alberta, including about 700 from the Paddle Prairie Métis Settlement, who were forced to leave May 26. 
“A wet spring and dangerous flooding [in Illinois] have created a nasty byproduct — more mosquitoes… mosquitoes that carry West Nile Virus prefer hot, dry conditions. 
“The flooding that devastated the Midwest this spring damaged infrastructure and prevented farmers from getting crops planted on time. 
“Flash flooding continues to be a threat as severe storms develop from the the southern Plains towards the Ohio Valley.”
“The Florida Forest Service estimates that Michael left roughly 72 million tons of rotting timber on the ground. 
“More record high temperatures have been set in the Hawaiian islands in the days leading up to the summer solstice, officially the first day of summer, on Friday. 
“”We had monsoon conditions at the start”, says Nina Barbour.
“The UK’s Brassica Growers Association is warning of a potential shortage of supplies to customers following extremely high levels of rainfall in the key growing county of Lincolnshire in the east of England. 
“The enormous volume of plastic waste, wood and vegetation that washed up in South Africa’s Port of Durban after heavy rains and flooding has been revealed in new footage. 
“129 degrees. 128.7 degrees. 
“Kuwait Municipality announced on Tuesday (June 18) that street cleaners’ working hours have been rescheduled due to the current heatwave, in order to ensure their wellbeing. 
“Bihar [India] alone is not suffering because of searing temperatures. Over the past month, parts of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Telangana, and Maharashtra have witnessed record temperatures. 
“On June 5, it drizzled for about ten minutes over most of Marathwada in India’s western state of Maharashtra. 
“China is tragically hit by heavy rains and flooding this week which left approximately 4 million hectares of farmlands submerged in water… China’s agriculture sector has been one of its most reliable GDP contributor with vast lands dedicated to farming. 
“South Sudan, Yemen and the Horn of Africa remain as the areas of greatest concern to food and water security monitoring agencies, due to their poor economic and food production conditions, which are often exacerbated by ongoing conflict. 
“March through May — spring in the Northern Hemisphere — was the second warmest such period in records dating back to 1880, according to a new analysis out today from NASA…
“In the Chesapeake Bay and along the Gulf Coast, people can contract a dangerous flesh-eating bacterial infection after eating or handling raw shellfish.
“With the Arctic’s warming from climate change, Arctic ecosystems are changing, too. Boreal forests are moving northward into the tundra, and tundra is expanding into polar desert, bringing along new populations of animals and insects that can spread diseases from the south. 
“Accelerating erosion is forcing villages in western Alaska to begin making plans to move. Alaska’s Energy Desk reported Monday that erosion caused by climate change threatens village infrastructure and could force the relocation of communities such as Quinhagak… 
““I’ve had three-tenths of an inch of rain since seeding, so [the crop] needs a drink of water,” Wellman said. Wellman is one of many farmers looking skyward as drought conditions take hold of the province [Saskatchewan, Canada]. 
“Last month, Chicago recorded the wettest May in city history, according to the weather service. 
“Major landslides in central Colombia have destroyed the road that connects the eastern plains with the rest of the country. 
“The director of the National Emergency Committee [Uruguay], Juan Andrés Roballo, estimated that there are more than 3,000 people displaced by the flood of rivers and streams throughout the country. 
“Sunday was the fifth-consecutive day a daily record high was set or tied in Honolulu. Numerous record highs have been set in Honolulu and other parts of Hawaii since mid-May. 
“A graph has revealed the frightening impact of climate change on New Zealand. 
“Australia on Tuesday lowered its forecast for wheat exports over the 2019/20 season by nearly 18% as a drought wilts crops in the world’s No.4 exporter of the grain. 
“At least five people died as of 5 a.m. Monday after rain-triggered floods and landslides hit southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, local authorities said Monday. 
“As the impacts of climate change become more apparent worldwide, members of the public are connecting more weather events to the phenomenon. In March and April, for example, extreme heat baked mainland Southeast Asia. 
“Torrential rains and widespread flooding across 12 governorates in Yemen in recent weeks have affected tens of thousands of people, leaving many in urgent need of emergency assistance. 
“A regional drought has reduced water levels at Kariba Dam, the main source of power for Zambia and Zimbabwe, to less than a third of its capacity. The dam is only 29% full, compared with 88% a year ago and 31% at the start of June, the Zambezi River Authority said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. 
“This June, Russia has been experiencing well above normal temperatures. Moscow hit 32°C last week with thousands of residents evacuated from their homes, many of which lack air condition systems. The heat has been on during the final stretch of spring across many other areas of northern Europe, where daytime temperature records have been the norm. 
“The point is, the Northern Hemisphere is really, really hot right now and summer has barely begun. 
“”It was incredible, really incredible”, [Natali] recalls while speaking to me from The Woods Hole Research Center, Massachusetts, where she is an associate scientist. “I still get chills when I think about it… I just couldn’t believe the magnitude: collapsing cliffs the size of multi-storey buildings … and as you walk along you see what look like logs poking out the permafrost. But they aren’t logs, they are the bones of mammoths and other Pleistocene animals.”
“High-volume pumps are being used to reduce flood waters in a Lincolnshire town [UK] where nearly 600 homes have been evacuated. 
“France will declare a state of natural disaster after rain and hail storms lashed a swathe of the south-east on Saturday, devastating crops. The flash storms, which brought hailstones as big as pingpong balls to some areas, killed two people in France and Switzerland, and injured at least 10 others. 
You may recall Corsica had snow in the middle of May: 
“The National Weather Service measured a temperature of 35.8 Celsius in Budakalász, north of Budapest, on Saturday, 0.8 C higher than the earlier record read at several localities in 1987. 
“…even by Iraq’s own standards, this June has been a sizzler – averaging a daily 48 deg C, compared to around 40 deg C in previous years. 
“Almost half of India – an area home to more than 500 million people – is facing drought-like conditions while a blistering heatwave has killed dozens of people in the impoverished eastern state of Bihar. 
“Queensland’s emergency services are planning for more catastrophic weather events – including 30-day heatwaves and 43-degree peak temperatures – as the effects of climate change turn up the heat on regional parts of the state. 
“At least seven people died and three others were missing after heavy rain pounded Recife, Brazil.”
“The Happy Spot was a little depressed. Dozens of corn farmers and those who sell them seed, chemicals and equipment gathered on Thursday at the restaurant in Deer Grove, Illinois, after heavy rains caused unprecedented delays in planting this year and contributed to record floods across the central United States. 
“Like farmers throughout the Midwest, this spring’s torrential rains turned Andrew Dunham’s land into sticky muck that set him back nearly a month in planting his crops. 
“People in the province [of New Brunswick, Canada] are talking about climate change in a way they never would have a few years ago.
“Global heating could bring many more bouts of severe drought as well as increased flooding to Africa than previously forecast, scientists have warned. 
“Drought-hit Namibia has authorised the sale of at least 1,000 wild animals – including elephants and giraffes – to limit loss of life and generate US$1.1 million for conservation, the authorities confirmed Saturday… 
“Dr. John Spicer of the University of Plymouth and Dr. Simon Morley of the British Antarctic Survey teamed up to see what kind of effect the warming oceans and their lower oxygen levels had on Antarctic species… 
“Lithuanian temperatures have hit record June highs, meteorologists said Thursday, as a heatwave forced school closures and threatened to reduce harvests in the draught-hit Baltic region.
“”According to the observations of the weather stations… on June 11 in Kyiv the warmest night since 1881 was recorded. 
“May was a black month for Israel – the colour of a charred landscape. More than 1000 wildfires started across the country, spreading out of control in unseasonable heat that many attributed to climate change. 
“At least 61 people have been killed and 356,000 evacuated from their homes as heavy rain and floods swept through large parts of southern and central China this week, Chinese rescue authorities said…
“This is the horrific moment a landslide of mud and water pushes dozens of cars and trucks out of the way in southern China… 
“These dry conditions combined with high temperatures, including the hottest Australian summer on record during late 2018 to early 2019, has had an alarming impact on water resources. 
“…the researchers believe the Totten Glacier region of Antarctica has lost 1.4 billion tonnes of water – enough to fill 570,000 Olympic swimming pools – which was stored as ice. 
“Local authorities in the city of Hermosillo, Sonora, are taking emergency measures in the face of some of the worst heat the city has ever experienced… 
“Another day of brutal heat was forecast Thursday for the Phoenix area and the entire Desert Southwest, a day after the city tied a record high of 112 degrees… 
“US Forest Service and Interior Department officials warned senators Thursday that the upcoming wildfire season [in California] would be worse than last year’s… 
“A city in western Alaska has lost a huge stretch of riverbank to erosion that may turn it into an island, amid renewed warnings from scientists over the havoc triggered by the accelerating melting of the state’s ice and permafrost. 
“A major warm spell has caused nearly half the surface of the Greenland ice sheet to start melting, something that’s highly unusual for this time of year… the gears could already be in motion for record-setting melt on the ice sheet’s western flank. 
“The Arctic summer has a long way to go, but already sea ice levels over great swathes of the sprawling Arctic ocean are at historic lows (in the 40-year-long satellite record) for this time of year. 
“The fires are now raging some 10 to 15 kilometres from the megaslump crater – a large hole in the frozen Arctic soil which highlights the dramatic speed of thawing permafrost. 
“Large parts of the UK are in drought. That seems ludicrous after a week of relentless rain, floods and travel chaos on roads and rail, with even more rain to come. However, it has gone largely unnoticed how dry much of Britain has been up to now. 
“Flash flooding caused a powerful waterfall to surge over a cliff just metres away from houses in Italy. 
“The lowest Arctic sea ice extent in the 40-year satellite record for this time of year was set on June 10 with just 10.901 million square kilometers of ice remaining, dipping just below the previous record set in 2016 of 10.919 million square kilometers. 
“In the Beaufort Sea, sea ice extent is currently at 684,000 sg/km, which is more typical of what it would be in mid-August. The longer term average for this date is 905,000 sq/km. 
“At least 60 dead ice seals have been found along the coast of the Bering and Chukchi seas in Alaska, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 
“Maybe 80 degrees in June doesn’t sound like cool relief. But after the scorcher expected Wednesday — when the high is predicted to hit 90 in the interior of Western Washington and 87 in the Seattle area — it may feel like a respite. 
“Heat warnings and/or advisories were in effect Tuesday for a number of major metro areas in the West, including Las Vegas, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento and San Francisco. 
“At the beginning of the twentieth century, though, a faint fixed pattern becomes discernible among the randomness, a quiet but strengthening note against a background symphony. 
“As heavy rain threatens to trigger more flooding in parts of the United Kingdom into Thursday morning, some areas have already recorded double the typical June rainfall earlier this week. 
“Parts of the province of Lecco in Lombardy [Italy] were left underwater in Italy’s latest bout of extreme weather, which came as the centre and south of the country braced itself for an early heatwave. 
“More than 200 households in Marigat town in Baringo South [Kenya] spent the night in the cold after their houses were submerged following heavy downpour pounding the area. 
“Torrential rains and flooding have affected thousands of people in Yemen and may escalate the spread of cholera, the United Nations warned on Wednesday. 
“A city in India held a wedding ceremony for two frogs in the belief it will encourage rainfall in a country gripped by drought. 
“India’s sugar production could fall as much as 15% in 2019/20 from the year before as severe drought hits a key growing region… 
“At least 49 people have died and 14 others are missing since heavy rainfall hit southern China in early June, authorities said today. 
“Heavy rainfall in parts of central Indonesia in early June has led to severe flooding and landslides, affecting tens of thousands of people, local authorities said on Wednesday (June 12). 
“We looked at data from 1960 to 2010 from every high-quality weather station in the State and there is a clear pattern, with drought increasing in the south of the State [South Australia] and over the Murray-Darling Basin, which is the food bowl of Australia,” Prof Beecham says.
“Even as most parts of north India reel under an intense heat wave, the upper reaches of Kashmir Valley recently received fresh snowfall – quite uncharacteristic for this time of the year… 
“Hundreds of Indian villages have been evacuated as a historic drought forces families to abandon their homes in search of water. The country has seen extremely high temperatures in recent weeks. 
“Tropical Cyclone Vayu could become the strongest cyclone to strike northwestern India in decades. It comes one month after powerful Tropical Cyclone Fani slammed into India’s northeastern coastline. 
“Sharing the findings of the Everest region drilling project ‘EverDrill (2016-2019)’, lead scientist from the UK-based University of Leeds Duncan Quincey said more than half of the ablation area of Khumbu glacier contained warm ice. 
“Summer has come suddenly in many parts of the country [Italy], with temperatures shooting into the early 30s in recent days after a cool, wet spring. 
“There are signs record-setting heat waves are beginning anew this Northern Hemisphere summer – signalling, perhaps, that these exceptional and widespread heat spells are now the norm. 
“Torrential downpours have flooded huge swaths of the Midwest and the Southeast since last week. 
“Corn planting has been at an all-time low percentage for the last four reports and remains behind schedule in 15 of the 18 states monitored. Soybean planting is behind in 16 of the 18 key soybean-producing states, according to the report. So far, just 60% of soybean planting has taken place… 
“Like her parents, and their parents before them, 60-year-old Betarco lives from subsistence farming — growing beans, rice, corn and wheat. However in recent years, the land hasn’t yielded enough to subsist on. 
“At least 16 people have died in heavy rain and flooding that struck southern China over the past week. Twelve others remain missing in the region, the Xinhua News Agency also reported Tuesday. 
“Arctic sinkholes are appearing across the Canadian High Arctic as permafrost — ice expected to be frozen year-round — thaws and collapses due to climate change, according to research published Monday. 