“The latest developments followed what was the hottest day of the year yesterday, with temperatures soaring to 89.6F (32C) at Shannon Airport – the highest temperature since 1976.”
“It’s bone dry this month as well as hot. Hardly a drop of rain has fallen in many parts of the [UK] over the past few weeks, and with little sign of any rain soon this is going to be one of the driest Junes on record.”
“After an unusually cold and snowy winter, Norway is now in a heat wave that has been there since the beginning of May. There has been too little rain, and many farmers are now at risk of losing their crops. It was also announced last week that there is a lack of CO2 to clean the drinking water.”
“A man was killed when a wall collapsed due to the record downpour in Mathura [UP, India], officials said today. Owing to the record 98 mm rain received in the last 24 hours, the low-lying areas of the city were inundated.”
“Continuous heavy rainfall swept most parts of China this week, affecting thousands of people and causing heavy economic losses, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.”
“A heavy downpour equivalent to half the average rainfall of the entire month of June caused flash floods in the central and western parts of Singapore on Friday (June 29) morning. In a statement, PUB said about 85mm of rainfall was recorded from 9.30am to 11.30am on Friday, more than half the average rainfall of 130.7mm in the entire month of June.”
“About 110 millimeters of rain fell around Kawasaki, Fukuoka Prefecture [Japan], in one hour between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. on June 29, according to weather radar analysis and rain gauge measurements by the headquarters. Minami-Shimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture, also received about 110 millimeters of rain between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. on the same day. Yukuhashi, Fukuoka Prefecture, recorded 107 millimeters of rain in three hours through 7:40 a.m., breaking the city’s previous record from 1976.”
“Changes in temperature and rainfall will impact almost half of South Asia in the coming decades, reducing economic growth in one of the world’s poorest regions, the World Bank said.”
“Thousands of Christians all across [Australia] will be praying for drought-breaking rains this Sunday, July 1, in response to a call by civic leaders in Queensland.”
“What a scorcher in Colorado on Thursday. Denver officially hit 105 degrees, tying the all-time record high in Denver. This also broke the daily record high of 99 degrees from 1986.”
“At least a dozen wildfires were raging on Friday in drought-stricken portions of Colorado where hundreds of residents have been evacuated as a wave of prime wildfire weather conditions move through the U.S. West.”
“Severe thunderstorms tore from the mid-Mississippi Valley to the Gulf Coast on Thursday, leaving an extensive trail of damage in their path. The storms were fueled by the intense heat and humidity that continues to build across the eastern half of the country.”
“Americans prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July, those in the Northeast should take steps to protect themselves from the heatwave that’s predicted to bring record temperatures this weekend.”
“A city in Oman just posted the world’s hottest low temperature ever recorded: 109 degrees. Over a period of 24 hours, the temperature in the coastal city of Quriyat, Oman, never dropped below 108.7 degrees (42.6 Celsius) Tuesday, most likely the highest minimum temperature ever observed on Earth.”
““After 10 days of raining, the three mountain peaks surrounding the valley suddenly fell down in the blink of an eye,” says Lo Van Sanh, 42, as he is looking for his wife and daughter.” [Vietnam]
“Torrential overnight rain in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, washed away an embankment, temporarily leaving about 80 people stranded… Rainfall of 52 millimeters was recorded in one hour between 3 and 4 AM Thursday in Hagiwara, Gero City.”
“Farmers who know what it’s like to battle drought, fire and floods are loading 400 emergency bales of hay on to 30 semi-trailers to help struggling graziers more than 1,300km away. Feed stock prices have doubled as drought conditions worsen in parts of eastern Australia.”
“Persistent drought in the remote northwestern Chinese region of Inner Mongolia has caused a rat plague now affecting more than 4 million hectares of grassland, an area the size of the Netherlands, the official Xinhua news agency said.”
“An out-of-control wildfire burning southeast of Hinton, Alberta had swollen to an estimated 700 hectares in size by Wednesday night and officials said 25 firefighters were working along with heavy equipment to battle the blaze.”
“This week is set to be hottest on record but on March 18 – just 15 or so weeks ago – schools [in Wales] were closed, roads were shut and communities were forced to pull together to help emergency services get on with their job.”
“Water companies… called for Brits to limit their showers to just four minutes in a bid to safeguard supplies, as the Met Office claimed it was ‘touch and go’ whether or not this month could be the driest June on record.”
“Fire chiefs gave warning this morning that a huge moorland blaze near Manchester could last for weeks unless the area is drenched by torrential rain.”
“The Athens-Corinth national highway was closed off for about two hours at the 29th klm and western Attica flooded, after thunderstorms hit several parts of Greece on Wednesday.”
“The current rate that we’re clearing the Amazon and other tropical forests in Southeast Asia and Central and West Africa is putting us on a course for rapid, irreversible, and catastrophic climate change, with an intensifying cycle of extreme droughts, more heat, and more forest fires. All told, deforestation accounts for an estimated 15 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions.”
“According to the research team, the rate of [Antarctic] ice loss has accelerated to 219 gigatons per year between 2012 and 2017, a bit more than the peak flow rate of Niagara Falls. That’s 219,000,000,000 metric tons.”
Parts of Greece inundated, stirring memories of last year’s nightmarish floods:
“The town of Mandra, west of Athens, where 24 people lost their lives last November during torrential rains and extreme flooding, was hard hit again.
“No loss of life was reported but numerous residents posted videos on Facebook that showed the force of the water that transformed streets into raging rivers…”
“…the [Indian] district in the first six months has received 300mm of excess rainfall.”
This is awful: “Rescuers battled heavy rains on Wednesday as they struggled to drain a flooded cave in Thailand where 12 children and their football coach have been trapped for days, as desperate relatives clung to hope the boys will be rescued soon.”
“A northern California wildfire that has burned some two dozen homes and buildings gained thousands of acres on Tuesday as it burned through tinder-dry chaparral, and residents forced to flee a tiny rural community had no idea when they can return.”
“It’s going to be a hot weekend, and it’s only the start of what meteorologists expect to be a scorching summer. On the heels of a heat wave that brought scalding temperatures and smog to the US Midwest and the Northeast last week, the thermometer is set to reach the mid-to-high 90s this weekend in upstate New York and Pennsylvania.”
“Scotland is basking in its warmest June day in more than two decades, according to weather forecasters. On the hottest day of the year so far, temperatures reached 29.4C in Aviemore at 14:00 on Wednesday. Forecasters said they could climb higher before the end of the day – far exceeding the 29C recorded in 1995.”
“It is turning out to be a summer to remember for much of Europe. Record-breaking temperatures have already been experienced in many countries, with May being the warmest in more than a century. June is shaping up to be another record month, both in terms of temperatures and lack of rainfall.”
“The agriculture minister told Polish Radio that in some parts of the country as much as 100 percent of grains were damaged. According to the agriculture ministry, of Poland’s roughly 2,500 local government districts, 2,300 have felt the effects of the drought. Ardanowski on Tuesday urged local governments to estimate losses caused by the exceptionally hot and dry June weather.”
“The Latvian Crisis Management Council on June 26th resolved not to declare a state of emergency in agriculture due to prolonged drought and instead chose to define the situation as “a natural disaster of a national scale”, informs LETA.”
“Newfoundlanders woke up this morning to an unpleasant surprise. A blanket of snow had covered parts of the province and Environment Canada had even issued a warning about road conditions.”
“At least 20 houses have collapsed and nearly 380 people were evacuated in a village in south China due to severe rainstorms over the weekend.
“The torrential rain has ravaged Guangxi, bringing an average precipitation of more than 100 millimetres to various areas and causing floods and landslides.
“Horrific video footage shows several buildings collapsing in front of shocked residents following a rain-triggered landslide in Weijiagou village, Baise city on Sunday…
“120 kilometres away in neigbouring Lingyun county, the extreme weather has caused a landslide which buried a family of six on early Sunday morning…
“Heavy downpours have hit Guangxi since last Wednesday. At least 124,000 people were affected so far and 2,000 residents were relocated in the region, according to Xinhua news…”
“The Vietnam Disaster Management Authority said in a statement Tuesday the disaster caused by heavy rains over the past few days has caused an estimated $6 million in damages to infrastructure, homes and agriculture. Landslides blocked traffic in some areas. More rain was expected, and weather forecasters warned of more floods and landslides as a result.”
“The record rainfall since Sunday [in Mumbai] exacted a hefty human cost with three boys from the city and its satellite townships losing their lives, and a woman critical after a balcony collapse.”
“The General Directorate of Meteorology has issued a warning that Istanbul and the northwestern Turkey should expect severe storms and hail on Tuesday. Officials have warned residents to expect strong thunder, heavy rainfall and a possible hail during the late afternoon.” [last July’s unexpected hail storm resulted in 150,000 insurance claims]
“The UK will continue to bask in a heatwave this week with temperatures expected to rise to a scorching 33C (91.4F). Parts of the UK are currently hotter than Athens, and on a par with Kuala Lumpur and Rio de Janeiro.”
“In essence, the authors argue that the entire Barents Sea has started to behave as an arm of the Atlantic. Unless some external factor re-establishes the layer of fresh water on the surface, “the entire region could soon have a warm and well-mixed water-column structure and be part of the Atlantic domain.””
“”Temperatures [in upstate New York] will climb very close to record levels,” the weather service said. Dew points, the measure of humidity, could reach into the 70s on Sunday, which “will produce dangerously high heat indices in excess of 100.””
“From Oregon to New York, Virginia, and Florida, including many locations in between, toxic algae blooms in reservoirs lakes, and waterways have led to state officials issuing emergency declarations.”
“The governor of California has declared a state of emergency in parts of Northern California due to raging wildfires that have burned 10,500 acres so far.”
“The 2015-16 El Niño brought record-breaking temperatures and the third major drought in a decade to the Amazon, affecting an area 20 percent greater than ever previously observed… “Once a tree dies it will slowly decompose, releasing all the carbon it had stored in its leaves, stems and roots back up to the atmosphere,” explained Lucy Rowland, of the University of Exeter.”
“Thousands of residents in the town of Arauca [Colombia] along its namesake river have been forced to higher grounds and the river overflows and breaks a nearby damn.”
“Since the bill [to protect Chile’s glaciers] was first presented four years, the project had suffered profound changes under pressure, primarily, from mining industry lobbyists…”
“Scientists have discovered a volcanic heat source underneath Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier. Already threatened by rising atmospheric temperatures and warming ocean currents, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet’s enemy list continues to grow.”
“A rain gauge right under the heaviest rainfall in [Michigan] this past weekend recorded an incredible rainfall rate…
“The rain gauge recorded 1.75 inches of rain in just one minute. If we convert that to a rainfall rate per hour, a common description of rain intensity, we get a crazy 105 inches per hour rainfall rate.
“Of course it can’t rain at that rate for one hour, but picking up almost two inches of rain in one minute is something I’ve never seen…
“…there is some question as to whether this rainfall rate really occurred. Regardless, it was an enormous amount of rain in a short time. If the rainfall rate is correct, it would be a new World Meteorological Organization one-minute rainfall rate record.”
“Campers attending the Montana Wilderness School of the Bible near the small town of Augusta were lifted out Thursday after a washed-out road cut off the only exit. Montana was just drying out from spring flooding caused by near-record snowfall over the winter when a storm unleashed rain over the past three days. Texas also saw deluges all week. The soaking in both states comes in stark contrast to the tinder-dry conditions of the American Southwest, which is experiencing drought and an early wildfire season.”
“A woman was found drowned in a creek and cars washed away down streets on Wednesday after a violent storm dumped nearly four inches of rain on parts of western Pennsylvania.”
“Wednesday’s sunny weather resulted in the third-highest temperature ever recorded in the capital city [of Juneau, Alaska] and the warmest day in five years.”
“Brad Rippey, USDA meteorologist, expects temperatures to climb as summer continues. “We’ll continue to see elevated temperatures pretty much across the board, but especially at night and especially in areas where we have had a lot of rain, because it does not allow the temperature to cool off as much at night,” said Rippey. “That is a concern [for crops].””
“Seven people have now lost their lives in less than a week due to flood-related incidents in four different states [in Mexico], including six in the past two days.”
“…there is a chance that the all-time record high temperatures in Ireland – currently set at 33.3 degrees in Kilkenny WAY back in 1887 – could be approached by the fantastic weather incoming further into next week.”
“Last night saw a storm in the Tallinn area [Estonia] which wrought havoc with transport and even contributed to curtailing the last few minutes of ETV’s broadcast of the Argentina-Croatia World Cup football match. The storm, which hit a bit before midnight, flooded several streets and underpasses.”
“Wheat production in Russia is expected to drop to 67.4 million tonnes this year, down 21.5 percent from a record 2017 crop, after adverse weather affected both winter and spring wheat, French consultancy Agritel said on Thursday.”
“The cleanup is continuing in Ivory Coast’s southern city of Abidjan after torrential rain caused deadly flash flooding. According to the country’s interior minister, Sidiki Diakite, 18 people died on Monday as flash floods raged through parts of the city, reaching a depth of 2.5 metres in some places… ‘I’ve never seen anything like it,’ said a resident. His car was swept 600 metres from his home.”
“Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana [of South Africa] said BRICS countries had a common goal of ensuring increased trade, food security, research, technology and climate sensitive agricultural practices. He said the threat of food insecurity was a common factor for all the emerging countries’ economies.”
“The weather has been exceptionally dry in the past one week, when the country’s rainfall was 39% below normal. In central India where the monsoon should have reached by now, the shortfall was more than 70%.”
“The European Union slapped revenge tariffs on iconic US products including bourbon, jeans and motorcycles on Friday in its opening salvo in a trade war with President Donald Trump.
“The tariffs, which took effect at midnight, further fuelled jitters on world stock markets that were already alarmed by trade tensions between the United States and China.
“Asian stocks fell, extending the worst week for regional equities since late March, amid concern global trade restrictions will curb growth.
“A drop in Japan’s Topix index brought the week’s decline to almost 3 percent, while equities also fell in China and Hong Kong.
“Customs agents across the Europe’s colossal market of 500 million people will now impose the duty, hiking prices on US-made products in supermarkets and across factory floors.
“Brussels imposed the raft of duties on US products worth 2.8 billion euros (£2.45 billion) in a tit-for-tat response to Mr Trump’s decision to slap stiff tariffs on European steel and aluminium exports.
“EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said this week that the 28-nation bloc was “left with no other choice” but to impose tariffs of its own after the “unilateral and unjustified decision of the US.”
“The International Monetary Fund is likely to revise down its growth forecasts for the euro zone as the area faces higher risks from trade, Britain’s talks to leave the bloc and market jitters over fiscal easing in Italy and other states.”
“The Bank of England has held interest rates at 0.5%, but edged closer to a hike after its chief economist joined two fellow policymakers in calling for a rise. Members of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 6-3 to keep rates unchanged, with Andy Haldane switching sides to join fellow dissenters Ian McCafferty and Michael Saunders in pushing for an immediate hike to 0.75%.”
“The Bank of England will be allowed to provide more than £500bn in lending to the economy without seeking the Treasury’s permission, in a move that reinforces the strength of the UK financial system as Britain prepares to leave the EU.”
“Hard-line eurosceptics have swept all the key posts in the budget and finance committees of the Italian parliament, shattering the brief calm in the bond markets and guaranteeing a showdown with Brussels over spending rules.”
“Switzerland’s central bank has stuck firmly to its ultra-low interest policy as it battles to curb a strengthening of the Swiss franc triggered by political turmoil in Italy and a dovish European Central Bank.”
Turkey’s economy has been ‘running too hot’ on a platform of unsustainable debt-growth: “…there are warning signs. Some companies are borrowing too much money from overseas. The country is sucking in too many imports, and money has to be found from somewhere to pay for them.”
“As Turks prepare to go to the polls on Sunday, the cost of hedging against fluctuations in the currency over a one-week period is trading close to the highest since the global financial crisis.”
“Mexico increased borrowing costs for the second time this year as higher U.S. interest rates, global trade tensions and the July 1 presidential election have battered the country’s peso, posing a risk to inflation.”
“China’s policy makers and local authorities are taking steps to prevent deepening strains in the $11 trillion bond market from spiraling into a broader systemic collapse. After a series of defaults and a net contraction in bond financing last month, officials have moved to inject liquidity and pressure creditors to negotiate with embattled individual borrowers this month.”
“Australian household debt is now hovering at a record high of about 120 per cent of GDP – among the highest in the world and well above Canada, Britain and the United States. And with the bulk of that debt confined to mortgage debt, and house prices now falling in Sydney and Melbourne, economists are sweating.”
Unusual to see this level of doom in a mainstream publication:
“The past two years, Australian economist John Adams and others have been warning of a looming global crash, based on record levels of public and private debt, ultra-low interest rates, excessive public spending and a massive housing bubble, among other indicators…
While Mr Adams — whose concerns are being quietly acknowledged by a growing number of politicians — believes it’s now too late for government action, he argues there are a number of things ordinary Australians can do to prepare themselves…”
“As the prospect of a trade war threatens to divide the world, a unified front is forming in global markets. It’s just not the type any risk-seeking investor wants to see…”
“As far as I know, your work is unique in pulling together stories from all over the world. Very sobering but a better and more complete view. Terrific and necessary work. Thank you!” – Simon
“With the inundation of so much depressing news, Justin Panopticon presents it in a succinct format that one can quickly go thru and see the big picture of climate and economics/politics to stay current and if a particle topic is of interest one can delve into the details… I try never to miss any of his posts…I am a Patreon of his work.”
– Karina S.
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About This Site
Weekday updates on both climate change and the global economy. Stay current with what’s happening around the world with a quick scan of top news.
“Meteorologists have confirmed that Glasgow has had its warmest ever day as the temperature in the city topped 31.9C.”
“A city in Oman just posted the world’s hottest low temperature ever recorded: 109 degrees. Over a period of 24 hours, the temperature in the coastal city of Quriyat, Oman, never dropped below 108.7 degrees (42.6 Celsius) Tuesday, most likely the highest minimum temperature ever observed on Earth.” 
Parts of Greece inundated, stirring memories of last year’s nightmarish floods:
Torrential rain ravages Guangxi, China:
“A rain gauge right under the heaviest rainfall in [Michigan] this past weekend recorded an incredible rainfall rate… 
“The European Union slapped revenge tariffs on iconic US products including bourbon, jeans and motorcycles on Friday in its opening salvo in a trade war with President Donald Trump.