“Wales has experienced the warmest February day on record. [Scotland broke its February temperature record last Thursday].
“Gogerddan near Aberystwyth topped the charts with temperatures hitting 19.1 degrees celsius (66 fahrenheit). It beat the previous record of 18.6 degrees celsius set in in Powys in 1990.
“Temperatures are more than double the average for the time of year.”
“Strong winds whipping through central Italy killed four people on Saturday, including a teenager who died when his father fell off the roof and crushed him, media reports said…
“A Turkish cargo vessel which had sought shelter near the coast was driven aground by gale force winds in the southern port of Bari, the Italian coast guard said.”
“A massive storm in Malta has locals picking dinner up off the streets. Gale-force winds sent seawater spraying across coastal roads on the Mediterranean island, along with helpless fish…
“The storm has been labelled a “high threat to life and property” by Malta’s Civil Protection Department.”
“Flooding in parts of Tennessee has left one person dead and sparked a state of emergency this weekend.
“One person died in Knoxville after driving his car into water on a flooded road early Sunday morning, according to Knox County Sheriff’s Office… Nashville broke a rainfall record on Saturday making this the city’s wettest February in over 100 years.”
“Weekend storms raked parts of the Southeast, leaving two dead and more injured as a tornado smashed into a commercial district in a small Mississippi city and drenching rains fed a rising flood threat.
“A woman was killed when a tornado hit Columbus, Mississippi on Saturday and a man died when he drove into floodwaters in Tennessee.”
“Alberta is set to get another blast of winter this weekend… Environment Canada says another “extreme cold” event will descend over the province Sunday, bringing with it wind chill values near -40. The freeze is expected to start in the morning.”
“The emergency agencies indicated that at least five thousand inhabitants of the municipalities of Condoto, Tadó, Cértegui, Medio San Juan, Rio Iró and Istmina in Chocó , were affected after heavy rains and the overflow of the San Juan River.
“Affected families are waiting for help, because after having lost everything they need clothes, blankets and dry mattresses.” [Colombia]
“Wutip, the strongest ever typhoon to churn in the western Pacific Ocean during February, is impacting Guam with flooding rain, strong winds and pounding seas. Wutip strengthened into a super typhoon on Saturday night, local time.
“It again became a typhoon on Sunday. Wutip surpassed Higos from 2015 as the strongest super typhoon on record during the month of February in the western Pacific Ocean.”
“Beaches along Queensland’s south coast have seen the worst erosion in 40 years after strong winds and king tides smashed against the shore over the weekend.
“Huge swells battered beaches along the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast beginning on Friday as ex-Cyclone Oma travelled offshore. Main Beach at Noosa and Marcoola Beach both experienced extreme erosion, with councils along the coast now inspecting the aftermath.”
“Numbers of unique Australian moths that migrate in their billions to alpine areas have crashed, ecologists say, putting extra pressure on the endangered mountain pygmy possum.
“Scientists believe the “astonishing” drop in bogong moth numbers is linked to climate change and recent droughts in areas where the moths breed.”
“Summer may be coming to a close but some areas of Australia are expected to sizzle through yet another unrelenting heatwave. Southern states and Victoria will get scorching weather in the coming days, while the northern part of the country sweats through ‘oppressive humidity’. Both Adelaide and Melbourne are forecast to hit up to 40C by the end of the week, and the weather bureau said the heat would stay for ‘day after day’.”
“The Australian dairy industry was already in crisis when drought struck key production regions in Victoria and New South Wales in 2018. Now farmers like Hickey say they are barely hanging on…
“It’s a situation repeated across the country. You can’t run a dairy farm without water — it takes 1,000 litres of water to make one litre of milk — and there is little to be had.”
“South Korea’s household electricity use hit an all-time high in 2018 as the country experienced record high temperatures that caused people to turn on their air conditioners for longer periods of time, official data showed Sunday.”
“Shanghai basked in only one-third of the normal amount of sunshine this winter on average, with 19 more gray, rainy days than general, the local weather bureau announced Monday.
“According to the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau, by Sunday, the city had recorded 46 rainy days since December.”
“Aid agencies have warned that a severe lack of rainfall in parts of Somalia has worsened the drought situation, affecting close to a million people mainly in northern Somalia.
“Climate change has been attributed as the main cause of harsh weather patterns in the Horn of Africa nation that has suffered from repeated droughts, floods and devastating cyclones in recent years.”
“This may be the largest iceberg to break from the Brunt Ice Shelf since observations began in 1915, and researchers are closely monitoring it find out whether such a loss, which is proportionate to two New York Cities in terms of area, will result in the shelf becoming unstable.
“NASA released a new image of Antarctica’s Brunt Ice Shelf this week as they are thoroughly monitoring a series of cracks in it and preparing for the break-off of an iceberg approximately 30 times the size of Manhattan – the area is estimated to be 1,700 sq. km.”
“January 2019 was the third-warmest January in the history of global weather record-keeping, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The only warmer global Januarys in the instrumental record, which dates back to the 1880s, were 2016 and 2017, and there’s evidence that the planet hasn’t been this warm in a very long time. The last time January global temperatures were below average was in 1976 — before millennials were even a thing.
“So here’s the strange truth: Last month may have felt cold where you live, but your senses were deceiving you. We’ve forgotten what “normal” weather feels like, so global warming is gaslighting us.
“Only a few specks of land were even slightly cooler than average: far northern Canada, parts of northern Finland, a bit of central India, and a small corner of western China. Even the eastern United States, which was hit with blizzards and cooler temperatures when the polar vortex roared at full force for days, officially ended the month “near average.” It was one of the coolest spots on the planet and its January was only 1.8 degrees F cooler than normal.
“In contrast, some parts of the planet were simply blazing with heat…”
“Almost a year ago, Britain was gripped by the Beast from the East – with Arctic scenes and major snowfall, leaving areas cut off for up to a week and huge drifts which almost buried houses.
“But a flow of warm air originating from north Africa is likely to send temperatures for this February close to the all-time record. Across many parts of the UK, spring flowers are already in bloom, while trees are beginning to bud.”
“A Virgin Atlantic flight from Los Angeles to London broke an unlikely milestone (and nearly the sound barrier) when it reached a screaming ground speed of 801 mph while traversing the skies some 35,000 feet above central Pennsylvania.
“No, this wasn’t the rebirth of the Concorde or the dawn of a new era of supersonic jets: The aircraft merely flew into a furious jet stream that propelled its flight way faster than usual on Monday night.”
“A massive winter storm with more than 200 million people in its path is bearing down on the East Coast. Heavy flooding rains falling on much of the Deep South on Tuesday night are expected to change over to ice and snow as the system hits the mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Wednesday.
“The storm is expected to affect parts of 39 states, and roughly 60 percent of the country’s population is in its path.”
“Imagine if half the water in Lake Tahoe was dumped on California. That’s sort of what happened in February. A string of back-t0-back storms have slammed California since the start of February, recharging reservoirs, flooding rivers, triggering mudslides and crippling mountain traffic.
“The National Weather Service has put a number on the heavy rain and snowfall, reporting that an estimated 18 trillion gallons of precipitation fell on California between Feb. 1 and Feb. 17.”
“A landslide that dumped about 6 million cubic yards of rock and debris across California Highway 1 near near Big Sur, California, in May 2017 was the result of drought followed by deluge, a team of scientists say.
“The Mud Creek landslide began as a “stable landslide,” or a landslide that slowly creeps over decades, even over the course of a century. On May 20, 2017, the stable landslide transformed into a “catastrophic collapse…””
“According to the National Institute of Civil Defense (Indeci), at least 39 people have died, 14 were injured and more than 8,000 people have been affected by the latest floods and landslides across the country. The Government of Peru has declared a state of emergency in the most affected regions.”
“Emergency officials are urging residents to prepare as a tropical storm, located about 855 miles southeast of Guam Wednesday evening, is expected to reach typhoon strength before passing south of Guam Saturday. Forecasters predict Tropical Storm Wutip will become a typhoon by Thursday, according to the National Weather Service Guam office. “
“Cyclone Oma has weakened in intensity but continues to move towards the southeast coast of Queensland and will bring with it gale force winds and heavy rainfall.
“Authorities are warning people not to panic but to prepare themselves and their property for a weekend of wild weather.”
“Houses in flood-hit Townsville and other parts of north Queensland are “on track to become uninsurable”, according to analysis that shows the risk to homes from flooding will more than double under climate change.
“The modelling, based on current global emissions trajectories, says flooding in Townsville is already about 20% more to likely to occur than previously thought.”
“NIWA glaciologists are not holding their breath, hoping they will see healthy, resurgent glaciers, as they prepare to conduct their annual survey of the southern region’s glaciers.
“Another hot summer has them worried about what they might find. Following New Zealand’s hottest summer on record last year, the South Island’s glaciers looked ”sad and dirty”.”
“The spectre of a deadly famine similar to the 1994 to 1998 disaster where over 3 million North Koreans died from starvation has come back with the revelation North Korea is fast running out of food and has slashed food rations for its citizens.
“This startling admission by a usually secretive nation was made by Kim Song, North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations… He blamed this situation on a combination of natural disasters and the sanctions imposed by the United States and the international community…”
“Afghanistan’s capital is running dry – its groundwater levels depleted by an expanding population and the long-term impacts of climate change.
“But its teeming informal settlements continue to grow as decades-long conflict and – more recently – drought drive people like Rahimi into the cities, straining already scarce water supplies. With large numbers migrating to Kabul, the city’s resources are overstretched…”
“Antarctic researchers watched as a segment of the Sorsdal Glacier ice shelf broke off into the Southern Ocean this month, in what scientists have said is a rare sighting.”
“Climate change threats – from worsening water shortages in Iraq and Pakistan to harsher hurricanes in the Caribbean – are a growing security risk and require concerted action to ensure they don’t spark new violence, security experts warned Tuesday.
““Climate change is not about something in the far and distant future. We are discussing imminent threats to national security,” said Monika Sie Dhian Ho, general director of the Clingendael Institute, a Dutch think tank.”
“Scientists call it California’s “other big one”, and they say it could cause three times as much damage as a major earthquake ripping along the San Andreas fault.
“Although it might sound absurd to those who still recall five years of withering drought and mandatory water restrictions, researchers and engineers warn that California may be due for rain of biblical proportions – or what experts call an ARkStorm.
“This rare mega storm – which some say is rendered all the more inevitable because of climate change – would last for weeks and send more than 1.5 million people fleeing as floodwaters inundated cities and formed lakes in the Central Valley and Mojave Desert, according to the US Geological Survey. Officials estimate the structural and economic damage from an ARkStorm (for Atmospheric River 1,000) would amount to more than US$725 billion (S$983 billion) statewide.
“In heavily populated areas of the Los Angeles Basin, epic runoff from the San Gabriel Mountains could rapidly overwhelm a flood control dam on the San Gabriel River and unleash floodwaters from Pico Rivera to Long Beach, says a recent analysis by the US Army Corps of Engineers.”
“A flash flood watch has been issued for parts of Middle Tennessee from Tuesday evening through 6 a.m. Thursday morning…
“Continued rainfall in Middle Tennessee this week could lead to the wettest February on record. Some areas will see in excess of 5″ of rainfall through Sunday, adding to already saturated areas. Currently, river levels are already at the action stage and will continue to rise.”
“It’s not your imagination: Palm Springs is having a record cold streak.
“The city, famed as a warm-weather winter getaway, has gone 88 days without temperatures hitting 80 degrees, the National Weather Service said Saturday. And no relief is expected soon.”
“Vero Beach and Fort Pierce [Florida] are busy setting records today. At 1:20 p.m., almost 30 minutes after it tied its record high for this date, Vero Beach saw temperatures jump to 89 degrees.
“That figure not only set a new daily record high — the previous record was 88 — but makes this the warmest February temperature ever.”
“Ecuador could lose two of its seven glaciers over the next few years thanks to global warming, a phenomenon that worries experts because it would alter the paramo ecosystem and its effect on the nation’s water supply and humidity, media reported.
“The most imminent threat concerns the glaciers of Carihuairazo, in Chimborazo province, and the southern Iliniza, between those of Pichincha and Cotopaxi.”
“At least 39 deaths left the heavy rains in several regions of Peru , according to revealed Monday the figures of the National Institute of Civil Defense (Indeci) in Lima , capital of the country.
“The authorities reported that about 8,299 people were affected by the floods and mud slides…”
“The Solomon Islands prime minister has asked Australia for emergency help cleaning up an environmental disaster after oil spilled from a bulk carrier that ran aground on a coral reef near a world heritage area.
“The MV Solomon Trader had been loading bauxite when rough seas pushed it aground at Kangava Bay, Rennell Island, on the night of 4 February.”
“The system that brought devastating, record-breaking rain to north Queensland a fortnight ago is refusing to go away.
“It is now circling off New Caledonia as a category three cyclone and its impact is expected to be felt along the southern Queensland coast late this week.”
“The federal government has upgraded the threatened status of a flying fox after almost a third of its population was wiped out in Queensland’s recent heatwave.
“The environment minister, Melissa Price, said the spectacled flying fox would be listed nationally as endangered, up from vulnerable, to “reflect heightened concerns for its future”. It is estimated more than 20,000 flying foxes died…”
“Australia’s crop production fell 20 percent in 2018 as a devastating drought wreaked havoc on the nation’s agriculture industry.
“The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) revealed on Tuesday the winter 2018 crop production was 30.4 million tonnes, down from 38 million tonnes the previous year. Production fell 60 percent in New South Wales (NSW) where the drought hit hardest, 51 percent in Queensland and Victoria and 24 percent in South Australia.”
“Ice and snow sculptures carved by nearly 10,000 artists in the city of Harbin have melted during a sudden warm spell, forcing the earliest closure of the main venue at China’s biggest winter festival. Daytime temperatures have poked above freezing in northern China’s warmest week this winter, prompting the closure of the Harbin Ice and Snow World after Sunday, more than 10 days ahead of schedule.
“”Of course, we do have a sense of crisis,” a park official said…”
“In response to the changing climate, glaciers in the Hindu-Kush Himalayas are “projected to decline by up to 90% through the 21st century”, says a new study by a multi-country team of scientists.
“The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region is spread across eight countries, from Afghanistan and Pakistan to India’s west, to Nepal in the north, and Myanmar to the east, and covers 3,500 kilometres.”
“Rising food insecurity in Mozambique is heightening the risk of child labour, child trafficking and forced marriage as impoverished families adopt negative stress coping strategies. This poses a high risk for the cropping season…
“An estimated 814, 700 people are facing the most severe levels of food insecurity and need life-saving assistance during the lean season.”
“Greek authorities confirmed that rescue crews have recovered the bodies of four people who were swept away in their car by a swollen river in Crete, following heavy rainfall in the region.
“The fire department said rescue crews located the car in the Geropotamos river on Monday, with all four people still inside.”
“The coming weeks are predicted to be the mildest on record for February, and now the Royal Horticultural Society says it is likely to be the most fragrant, too.
“Britain’s gardens are going in to bloom earlier this year, with seasonal flowers including witch hazel, winter-flowering viburnums, shrubby honeysuckles and Edgeworthia flowering larger and more profusely as a result of last year’s hot, sunny summer and a lack of hard frosts this winter.
“It means February is shaping to be the most fragrant in memory, the Royal Horticultural Society has said, with winter-flowering plants blooming quicker than normal to avoid competition for pollinators come the summer. A flower count in the south west and Wales by the National Trust has seen numbers up in almost 40 of its gardens, with its Trelissick site in Truro seeing a 91 per cent increase from 102 flowers last year to 195 this year.
“The country could have its hottest February day on record this week as warm air is likely to surge towards the UK and Ireland.”
“An open air swimming spot in Karlsruhe will be the first in Germany to open its doors this year as the country enjoys unseasonably warm weather of more than 20C in February…
“Temperatures above 20C in the middle of February are “extremely unusual”, the DWD weather expert said. Mild temperatures usually only arrive in Germany four weeks later, around March 20th, according to experts.”
“Hurricane-strength winds hit the Stora Sjöfallet national park in northern Sweden over the weekend, but mountain rescuers were still called out to save hikers who tried to defy the harsh conditions.
“Sweden’s national weather agency SMHI recorded gusts of up to 156.6 kilometres per hour on Saturday evening, with average wind speeds of around 133 km/h.”
“Four persons went missing on early Sunday on Crete island and a search and rescue operation was underway, after torrential rains caused flooding mainly in rural areas, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.
“A woman made a telephone call to the Fire Brigade that the car her husband was driving was being swept by waters of the overflowing Geropotamos river…”
“Black snow has been spotted in a coal mining region in Russia. The Kemerovo area in southwest Siberia has undergone a gothic makeover, with videos and photos shared on social media showing jet-black flakes transforming the landscape.
“While the phenomenon may look eerily beautiful, it’s indicative of a coal mining industry that has very little in the way of regulation, according to environmental protesters.”
“Nigerians, especially, those living in Lagos and some other southern states may have been jolted by the unusual heavy downpours that marked the first month of the year; a month that is normally characterised by high temperatures, scorching sun and heat wave…
“Experts have been blaming the abnormal weather on climate change.”
“Maipato Kesebang normally grows maize, jugo beans and sweet reed on her 20-hectare plot of land northwest of Gaborone, Botswana’s capital. But last year, worsening drought and heatwaves destroyed much of her harvest.
““The little that grew feebly we just ate. Nothing was left for storage or to sell,” she said.”
“Eight subsistence miners who were trapped underground for several days after heavy flooding in Zimbabwe have been rescued, though dozens of their co-workers are still missing and feared dead.
“”Eight of the trapped minors have been rescued … while 24 bodies have been retrieved to date as rescue efforts continue at Battlefields Mine,” the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation reported.”
“The residents of the cities of Patagonia in Argentina act in a way that they themselves are surprised. The unusual and surprising climate change that cause temperatures above 40 degrees, has caused them to completely change their routines. Since the beginning of February, with a temperature above 30 °, the inhabitants began to use lighter clothes and to bathe in cold southern waters, like those of Playa Grande, located on one of the margins of the Chilean city of Ushuaia…”
“There is a 50 per cent chance this year could be Thailand’s second hottest ever. People must brace for extreme heat in the days to come, as an extraordinarily hot and arid summer has been forecast for Thailand from Thursday, while seven provinces in the North and the West are expected to experience extreme heat at 40-44 deg C, experts have warned.”
“Katherine’s [Northern Territories] all-time February heat record is set to be broken this week. That’s the prediction of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
“After a disappointingly poor wet season so far, which remains well below average in terms of rain, the hot build-up type days have remained. Over the past few days the bureau has been steadily increasing its expected temperature for later this week.”
“Australia’s $6 billion dollar wine industry is under pressure and struggling to adjust following record summer heatwaves across the country.
“Some winemakers have been forced to harvest around the clock during January and February, as both red and white grapes ripened at once. The Hunter Valley in NSW is one affected region, with winemaker Andrew Margan running on little sleep during the hottest January on record, in order to bring in his entire vintage.”
“A scientific panel investigating the causes of three mass fish deaths at the Menindee lakes has pointed the finger squarely at those managing the Murray-Darling river system, saying the lack of flows was caused by a combination of drought and over-extraction, leading to the environmental disaster…
“Unless urgent steps are taken to restore flows in the Darling, Prof Craig Moritz, who chaired the panel, warned: “The Darling will die.””
“Freshwater bleaching of corals could occur this year as a result of flood waters from Queensland’s overflowing rivers pouring into the Great Barrier Reef, the marine park authority has warned.
“The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority told Senate estimates hearings in Canberra on Monday that there is a chance corals hit by mass bleaching in 2016 or 2017 could be damaged again by one of several impacts from the flooding disaster.”
“Many parts of Australia have suffered a run of severe and, in some cases, unprecedented weather events this summer. One common feature of many of these events – including the Tasmanian heatwave and the devastating Townsville floods – was that they were caused by weather systems that parked themselves in one place for days or weeks on end.”
“The latest storm to hit the Truckee-Tahoe area dropped another 30 inches of snow at Squaw Valley’s upper mountain, breaking the record at the resort for most snowfall in February.
“This month, Squaw Valley has been hit with 205 inches of snow at its upper mountain and more is currently coming down. The previous record was set in February 2017 when Squaw received 196 inches of snow.”
“Des Moines could break a 107-year-old snowfall record this week. In 1912, 43.5 inches of snow fell in 40 days in Des Moines. Since Jan. 11, 37.4 inches covered Iowa’s capital, according to the National Weather Service.
“But a mid-week storm could overturn Des Moines’ record for most snowfall in a 40-day period set the same year the Titanic sank to the bottom of the Atlantic.”
“Data Thoman shared with Earther shows Februarys in Utqiaġvik have warmed a staggering 11 degrees Celsius over the past 50 years — the highest jump of any month, although autumns on the North Slope are also seeing very rapid warming, which helps explain why the sea ice that forms offshore as the sunlight wanes has been weak as hell lately.”
“…temperatures have been scarily above normal this month at the northernmost point of the United States.
“Through the first 12 days of February, Utqiaġvik, Alaska (previously known as Barrow) is running 21 degrees warmer than normal. On Friday, readings soared as high… On Friday, readings soared as high as 30 to 50 degrees above normal.”
“After weeks of snowfall in central Wisconsin, its time to turn attention to the accumulating totals on top of roofs.
“The snow totals in the Wausau area have reached 35 inches in the month of February. Doing the job of clearing it off yourself can be dangerous and should be done with caution.”
“A storm will raise the risk of life-threatening flash flooding, mudslides and avalanches across California as it will be loaded with subtropical moisture from an atmospheric river eyeing the state.
“California will be bombarded with heavy rain and fluctuating snow levels through Thursday night.”
“In true Texas fashion, San Antonio temperatures will be approaching record highs this weekend after the city began the week with lows in the 30s, according to the National Weather Service.”
“Hurricane-force winds have set a new record on an iconic Western North Carolina peak, according to measurements taken early Wednesday.
“It was around 4 a.m. when a three-second wind gust hit 121.3 miles per hour on Grandfather Mountain, breaking the previous record set six years earlier.”
“At least one in 10 of Colombia’s municipalities have run out of drinking water as a consequence of extended drought caused by weather phenomenon “El Niño.”
“The country’s Housing and Territory Ministry said Tuesday that 108 municipalities have run out of drinking water. Newspaper El Tiempo reported that 391 municipalities throughout Colombia are suffering water shortages…”
“In the south of Chile, record breaking temperatures have sparked forest fires burning thousands of hectares of land… A weather station in the capital Santiago set a new record of 38.3°C (100.94F) in January.
“In other parts of central Chile, temperatures topped 40°C (104F), according to Meteo Chile. Heat gripped Patagonia in February, and for the first time ever Porvenir and Puerto Natalaes in the southern tip of the country exceeded 30°C (86F). Coyhaique reached a new record of 35.7°C (96.3F) and Cochrane 36.1°C (97F).”
“A weather phenomenon called the Foehn Effect is helping to encourage the unusually high temperatures in some parts of the UK.
“Temperatures in northern parts of Scotland will reach the mid-teens on Thursday and if the mercury climbs above 15.3C it will be Scotland’s warmest St Valentine’s Day on record…”
“Drought is worsening across 13 counties [of Kenya] owing to the prevailing hot weather conditions across the country.
“A drought status and response report by the National Drought Management Authority indicates that the worst hit regions include the North Eastern counties of Garissa, Marsabit, Wajir and Mandera.”
“At least 38 miners in Zimbabwe are feared to have died after the flooding of two underground mines in a central town late on Tuesday.
“The flooding, caused by heavy rains, led to the collapse of a dam wall at around 23:00 on Tuesday, leaving 34 miners trapped underground at Silver Moon Mine and another four at the Cricket Mine, The Herald reported.”
“At least five people have died, hundred houses destroyed and roads washed away after heavy rains led to torrential flooding in the western Afghanistan’s provinces, local official said Wednesday…
“Herat officials said due to heavy rain and snow, flights into and out of Herat have been cancelled and the Herat-Islam Qala, Herat-Torghondi and Herat-Kandahar highways have been closed.”
“Record snowfall covered Moscow on Wednesday, with streets and monuments blanketed in white and dozens of flights cancelled at the city’s main airport.
“Snow coated trees and power lines from morning, but melted into deep slush on pavements as temperatures rose above freezing in the afternoon.”
“A river has gone from thin and dry to 37 miles (60 kilometers) wide in a matter of weeks as a result of floods in northeast Australia, satellite imagery shows.
“Images released by NASA show the change to the Flinders River — one of Australia’s longest waterways — over the past month, with flooding there at its worst in more than half a century… The river is now so big it’s creating its own weather system.”
“New Zealand is experiencing another bout of hot weather as the dry summer continues. Temperatures are expected to peak on Thursday and Friday this week as a weak front moves across the country.
“The effects of the front were felt on Tuesday, where record temperatures were recorded in Rotorua.”
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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.
“Wales has experienced the warmest February day on record. [Scotland broke its February temperature record last Thursday].
“Monday could be the warmest February day ever in Ireland breaking a record that stretches back almost 130 years. 
“Strong winds whipping through central Italy killed four people on Saturday, including a teenager who died when his father fell off the roof and crushed him, media reports said… 
“A massive storm in Malta has locals picking dinner up off the streets. Gale-force winds sent seawater spraying across coastal roads on the Mediterranean island, along with helpless fish… 
“Flooding in parts of Tennessee has left one person dead and sparked a state of emergency this weekend. 
“Weekend storms raked parts of the Southeast, leaving two dead and more injured as a tornado smashed into a commercial district in a small Mississippi city and drenching rains fed a rising flood threat. 
“The emergency agencies indicated that at least five thousand inhabitants of the municipalities of Condoto, Tadó, Cértegui, Medio San Juan, Rio Iró and Istmina in Chocó , were affected after heavy rains and the overflow of the San Juan River. 
“Wutip, the strongest ever typhoon to churn in the western Pacific Ocean during February, is impacting Guam with flooding rain, strong winds and pounding seas. Wutip strengthened into a super typhoon on Saturday night, local time. 
“Beaches along Queensland’s south coast have seen the worst erosion in 40 years after strong winds and king tides smashed against the shore over the weekend. 
“Numbers of unique Australian moths that migrate in their billions to alpine areas have crashed, ecologists say, putting extra pressure on the endangered mountain pygmy possum. 
“The Australian dairy industry was already in crisis when drought struck key production regions in Victoria and New South Wales in 2018. Now farmers like Hickey say they are barely hanging on… 
“Shanghai basked in only one-third of the normal amount of sunshine this winter on average, with 19 more gray, rainy days than general, the local weather bureau announced Monday. 
“Aid agencies have warned that a severe lack of rainfall in parts of Somalia has worsened the drought situation, affecting close to a million people mainly in northern Somalia. 
“This may be the largest iceberg to break from the Brunt Ice Shelf since observations began in 1915, and researchers are closely monitoring it find out whether such a loss, which is proportionate to two New York Cities in terms of area, will result in the shelf becoming unstable.
“January 2019 was the third-warmest January in the history of global weather record-keeping, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The only warmer global Januarys in the instrumental record, which dates back to the 1880s, were 2016 and 2017, and there’s evidence that the planet hasn’t been this warm in a very long time. The last time January global temperatures were below average was in 1976 — before millennials were even a thing.
“Almost a year ago, Britain was gripped by the Beast from the East – with Arctic scenes and major snowfall, leaving areas cut off for up to a week and huge drifts which almost buried houses. 
“A Virgin Atlantic flight from Los Angeles to London broke an unlikely milestone (and nearly the sound barrier) when it reached a screaming ground speed of 801 mph while traversing the skies some 35,000 feet above central Pennsylvania. 
“A massive winter storm with more than 200 million people in its path is bearing down on the East Coast. Heavy flooding rains falling on much of the Deep South on Tuesday night are expected to change over to ice and snow as the system hits the mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Wednesday. 
“Imagine if half the water in Lake Tahoe was dumped on California. That’s sort of what happened in February. A string of back-t0-back storms have slammed California since the start of February, recharging reservoirs, flooding rivers, triggering mudslides and crippling mountain traffic. 
“A landslide that dumped about 6 million cubic yards of rock and debris across California Highway 1 near near Big Sur, California, in May 2017 was the result of drought followed by deluge, a team of scientists say. 
“According to the National Institute of Civil Defense (Indeci), at least 39 people have died, 14 were injured and more than 8,000 people have been affected by the latest floods and landslides across the country. The Government of Peru has declared a state of emergency in the most affected regions.” 
“Cyclone Oma has weakened in intensity but continues to move towards the southeast coast of Queensland and will bring with it gale force winds and heavy rainfall. 
“Houses in flood-hit Townsville and other parts of north Queensland are “on track to become uninsurable”, according to analysis that shows the risk to homes from flooding will more than double under climate change. 
“NIWA glaciologists are not holding their breath, hoping they will see healthy, resurgent glaciers, as they prepare to conduct their annual survey of the southern region’s glaciers. 
“The spectre of a deadly famine similar to the 1994 to 1998 disaster where over 3 million North Koreans died from starvation has come back with the revelation North Korea is fast running out of food and has slashed food rations for its citizens.
“Afghanistan’s capital is running dry – its groundwater levels depleted by an expanding population and the long-term impacts of climate change. 
“Climate change threats – from worsening water shortages in Iraq and Pakistan to harsher hurricanes in the Caribbean – are a growing security risk and require concerted action to ensure they don’t spark new violence, security experts warned Tuesday.
“Scientists call it California’s “other big one”, and they say it could cause three times as much damage as a major earthquake ripping along the San Andreas fault.
“A flash flood watch has been issued for parts of Middle Tennessee from Tuesday evening through 6 a.m. Thursday morning… 
“It’s not your imagination: Palm Springs is having a record cold streak. 
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“Ecuador could lose two of its seven glaciers over the next few years thanks to global warming, a phenomenon that worries experts because it would alter the paramo ecosystem and its effect on the nation’s water supply and humidity, media reported. 
“At least 39 deaths left the heavy rains in several regions of Peru , according to revealed Monday the figures of the National Institute of Civil Defense (Indeci) in Lima , capital of the country. 
“The Solomon Islands prime minister has asked Australia for emergency help cleaning up an environmental disaster after oil spilled from a bulk carrier that ran aground on a coral reef near a world heritage area. 
“The system that brought devastating, record-breaking rain to north Queensland a fortnight ago is refusing to go away. 
“The federal government has upgraded the threatened status of a flying fox after almost a third of its population was wiped out in Queensland’s recent heatwave. 
“Australia’s crop production fell 20 percent in 2018 as a devastating drought wreaked havoc on the nation’s agriculture industry. 
“Ice and snow sculptures carved by nearly 10,000 artists in the city of Harbin have melted during a sudden warm spell, forcing the earliest closure of the main venue at China’s biggest winter festival. Daytime temperatures have poked above freezing in northern China’s warmest week this winter, prompting the closure of the Harbin Ice and Snow World after Sunday, more than 10 days ahead of schedule.
“In response to the changing climate, glaciers in the Hindu-Kush Himalayas are “projected to decline by up to 90% through the 21st century”, says a new study by a multi-country team of scientists. 
“Rising food insecurity in Mozambique is heightening the risk of child labour, child trafficking and forced marriage as impoverished families adopt negative stress coping strategies. This poses a high risk for the cropping season… 
“Greek authorities confirmed that rescue crews have recovered the bodies of four people who were swept away in their car by a swollen river in Crete, following heavy rainfall in the region. 
“The coming weeks are predicted to be the mildest on record for February, and now the Royal Horticultural Society says it is likely to be the most fragrant, too.
“An open air swimming spot in Karlsruhe will be the first in Germany to open its doors this year as the country enjoys unseasonably warm weather of more than 20C in February… 
“Hurricane-strength winds hit the Stora Sjöfallet national park in northern Sweden over the weekend, but mountain rescuers were still called out to save hikers who tried to defy the harsh conditions. 
“Four persons went missing on early Sunday on Crete island and a search and rescue operation was underway, after torrential rains caused flooding mainly in rural areas, Greek national news agency AMNA reported. 
“Black snow has been spotted in a coal mining region in Russia. The Kemerovo area in southwest Siberia has undergone a gothic makeover, with videos and photos shared on social media showing jet-black flakes transforming the landscape. 
“Nigerians, especially, those living in Lagos and some other southern states may have been jolted by the unusual heavy downpours that marked the first month of the year; a month that is normally characterised by high temperatures, scorching sun and heat wave… 
“Maipato Kesebang normally grows maize, jugo beans and sweet reed on her 20-hectare plot of land northwest of Gaborone, Botswana’s capital. But last year, worsening drought and heatwaves destroyed much of her harvest. 
“Eight subsistence miners who were trapped underground for several days after heavy flooding in Zimbabwe have been rescued, though dozens of their co-workers are still missing and feared dead. 
“The residents of the cities of Patagonia in Argentina act in a way that they themselves are surprised. The unusual and surprising climate change that cause temperatures above 40 degrees, has caused them to completely change their routines. Since the beginning of February, with a temperature above 30 °, the inhabitants began to use lighter clothes and to bathe in cold southern waters, like those of Playa Grande, located on one of the margins of the Chilean city of Ushuaia…”
“Katherine’s [Northern Territories] all-time February heat record is set to be broken this week. That’s the prediction of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. 
“Australia’s $6 billion dollar wine industry is under pressure and struggling to adjust following record summer heatwaves across the country. 
“A scientific panel investigating the causes of three mass fish deaths at the Menindee lakes has pointed the finger squarely at those managing the Murray-Darling river system, saying the lack of flows was caused by a combination of drought and over-extraction, leading to the environmental disaster… 
“Freshwater bleaching of corals could occur this year as a result of flood waters from Queensland’s overflowing rivers pouring into the Great Barrier Reef, the marine park authority has warned. 
“The latest storm to hit the Truckee-Tahoe area dropped another 30 inches of snow at Squaw Valley’s upper mountain, breaking the record at the resort for most snowfall in February. 
“Des Moines could break a 107-year-old snowfall record this week. In 1912, 43.5 inches of snow fell in 40 days in Des Moines. Since Jan. 11, 37.4 inches covered Iowa’s capital, according to the National Weather Service. 
“Data Thoman shared with Earther shows Februarys in Utqiaġvik have warmed a staggering 11 degrees Celsius over the past 50 years — the highest jump of any month, although autumns on the North Slope are also seeing very rapid warming, which helps explain why the sea ice that forms offshore as the sunlight wanes has been weak as hell lately.”
“…temperatures have been scarily above normal this month at the northernmost point of the United States.
“After weeks of snowfall in central Wisconsin, its time to turn attention to the accumulating totals on top of roofs. 
“A storm will raise the risk of life-threatening flash flooding, mudslides and avalanches across California as it will be loaded with subtropical moisture from an atmospheric river eyeing the state. 
“Hurricane-force winds have set a new record on an iconic Western North Carolina peak, according to measurements taken early Wednesday. 
“At least one in 10 of Colombia’s municipalities have run out of drinking water as a consequence of extended drought caused by weather phenomenon “El Niño.” 
“In the south of Chile, record breaking temperatures have sparked forest fires burning thousands of hectares of land… A weather station in the capital Santiago set a new record of 38.3°C (100.94F) in January. 
“A weather phenomenon called the Foehn Effect is helping to encourage the unusually high temperatures in some parts of the UK. 
“At least 38 miners in Zimbabwe are feared to have died after the flooding of two underground mines in a central town late on Tuesday. 
“At least five people have died, hundred houses destroyed and roads washed away after heavy rains led to torrential flooding in the western Afghanistan’s provinces, local official said Wednesday… 
“Record snowfall covered Moscow on Wednesday, with streets and monuments blanketed in white and dozens of flights cancelled at the city’s main airport. 
“A river has gone from thin and dry to 37 miles (60 kilometers) wide in a matter of weeks as a result of floods in northeast Australia, satellite imagery shows. 
“NSW is on track to have warmer than average days and nights in the coming months, the Bureau of Meteorology says. 
“New Zealand is experiencing another bout of hot weather as the dry summer continues. Temperatures are expected to peak on Thursday and Friday this week as a weak front moves across the country. 
“The red alert cyclone warning has been re-issued to central parts of Vanuatu as Tropical Cyclone Oma spirals northwest of Santo… 