“Did you freeze your a– off in April? Did you sweat your a– off in May? Well, you are not alone. In fact, a record number of stations observed a record cold April followed by a record warm May.
“This is the largest area on Earth to experience a record cold to record warm flip (or vice versa) of temperatures in consecutive months in the last 100 years!”
“Is the extreme weather that wreaked havoc on parts of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula this week a storm event that can be set aside as an aberration? No, says science professor Nancy Langston who teaches at Michigan Technological University located in Houghton, ground zero for the storm.”
“A flash flood watch is in effect for southeastern South Dakota, including Minnehaha and Lincoln counties, as heavy rain is expected through Thursday.”
“At least 15 inches of rain has fallen for the Rio Grande Valley in parts of the area between Weslaco and Harlingen [Texas]. The heavy rainfall caused major flooding, and more is expected to come, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Heather Zehr.”
“Starting in February, a significant decrease in precipitation led to a reduction of surface and ground water in the centre and north of Uruguay. Government figures indicate more than 11,000 people have been affected by this disaster.”
“The potential is increasing for a sweltering heat wave across the British Isles next week. Unseasonable warmth has prevailed across the entire United Kingdom in June, and the most intense heat of the month is yet to come.”
“Poland’s prime minister on Wednesday warned of “very significant” crop losses as the EU country scrambled to help farmers struggling to cope with an unusual spring drought amid soaring temperatures. Farmers in the nearby Baltic EU states of Latvia and Lithuania are also facing drought, with Latvian officials due to consider declaring a state of emergency on Thursday, according to the BNS Baltic News Service.”
“Tami Shor, Senior Deputy Director (Regulation) at the Water Authority, told the committee that “almost every addition of water in Israel comes from a desalination system. The main fear is that 2019 will be the sixth drought year and, as a result, in certain places there may be disruptions in the supply of water.””
“The Russian city that will host England’s next World Cup match against Panama suffered dramatic flooding after fierce thunderstorms struck on Tuesday. Fans had been relaxing on the banks of the Volga River, which runs through Nizhny Novgorod, when the balmy sunshine suddenly gave way to torrential rain.”
“Temperatures dropped below freezing several times during the past week as Queensland [Australia] was transformed into a winter wonderland and a Gold Coast suburb shivered through its coldest June morning ever recorded.”
“Debt and plenty of it was the legacy of the global financial crisis. Over the past decade of ultra low and negative interest rates, companies have more than doubled their outstanding amount of bonds and loans.
“Now, as central banks led by the US Federal Reserve retreat from the era of easy money that helped fuel huge corporate debt sales in the past decade, the bill for the debt binge looms large.
“The global value of corporate bonds outstanding has risen 2.7 times since 2007 to $11.7tn, doubling as a share of gross domestic product alongside a deterioration in credit ratings, noted McKinsey & Co.
““The average quality of blue-chip borrowers has declined, growth in speculative-grade corporate bonds has been particularly strong and bond issuance by companies in China and other developing countries — often denominated in foreign currency — has soared,” said the consultancy.
“After a sustained period of strong performance, credit is looking ragged since investor optimism peaked in late January…
“They have good reason for concern as a hefty refinancing wave looms with companies looking to roll over their funding needs and at higher interest rates. McKinsey said: “If current issuance trends continue, then as much as $10tn of bonds will come due over the next five years,” with $3tn via the US, $1.7tn from China and $1.7tn from Western European companies.
“For European credit, another headwind beckons as the European Central Bank prepares to end its purchases of government and corporate bonds this year…”
“When the next recession hits, central banks in the US, Japan and Europe simply won’t have the tools to fight it. Nicholas Spiro says the global economy is looking shaky amid escalating trade tensions, but the worse news is that the monetary policies already in place to stimulate demand and the explosion in public indebtedness will severely limit policy actions to fight a downturn.”
“A developing trade war between the world’s biggest economies is weighing on business confidence and could force central banks to downgrade their outlook, the world’s most powerful policymakers argued on Wednesday.”
“In recent weeks, concerns have been mounting that growth in the world’s second-biggest economy is cooling faster than previously expected. Weaker Chinese growth will have repercussions for big trading partners, such as the United States and Europe, and for global companies who do business there. Now, an intensifying clash with the United States is adding to the difficulties.”
“Just when it looked like things couldn’t get much worse for emerging markets, along comes a trade war. And it’s hitting emerging-market commodity suppliers and China-exporter nations especially hard.”
“Emerging markets are in far greater danger of a financial crisis than their developed peers, and Hong Kong has the most to fear, according to an update of Nomura Singapore Limited’s collection of early-warning indicators. Hong Kong and China are the only constituencies in grave danger of a financial crisis or sharp drop in domestic demand in the next three years, with the red flags more prominent for Hong Kong than even during the peak of the Asian financial crisis…”
“One of the world’s biggest ratings agencies has questioned the NSW [Australia] government’s finances, as new analysis reveals the nationwide infrastructure boom is pushing combined federal and state government debts towards the $1 trillion mark for the first time.”
“ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation’s premier property database, today released its Q2 2018 U.S. Home Affordability Report, which shows that the U.S. home prices in the first quarter were at the least affordable level since Q3 2008.”
“British workers remained worse off last year than before the financial crisis and there is little hope of a decent pickup in living standards, according to a think tank. Real median employee earnings in 2016-17 were as much as 3 percent below their 2007-08 level, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said in a report Wednesday. While workers are making less, pension and savings income has increased, leaving total household income 5.6 percent higher than in 2008.”
“Venezuela on Wednesday tripled its minimum wage to 3 million bolivars per month, equivalent to just $1.14 (86p) at the black market exchange rate, as the crisis-ridden OPEC nation struggles under hyperinflation.”
“Iran has faced considerable inflation as the price of some items such as cars and gold coins have increased more than 20 percent in the past few weeks. The prices of some new cars increased from around $16,000 to over $23,500 USD during the last two weeks.”
“Flooding killed 17 people in Ivory Coast’s economic capital Abidjan, a minister said on Tuesday.
“The torrential downpour which started at 11:00 pm on Monday continued until 6:00 am on Tuesday, causing flash floods up to 2.5 metres (more than eight feet) deep, Interior Minister Sidiki Diakite
“Rescue teams saved 115 people and searches were under way for other casualties, he said, adding that emergency medical centres had been set up across the seaside city.”
“Monday night’s downpour which caused flash flooding in parts of Greater Accra [Ghana] killed three people. They were killed as the raging waters swept across the city of Accra and its surrounding municipalities.”
“Flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains in South Asia have killed dozens of people and displaced more than a million, most in north-east India and Bangladesh, authorities said on Tuesday.”
“The strong monsoon that has pummeled [Myanmar] with heavy rain since last week has claimed the lives of 19 people while displacing more than 10,000 families across the country, a Department of Disaster Management official told The Myanmar Times on Tuesday.”
“Just a few days of downpours and storms at the onset of monsoon earlier this month triggered landslides and floods [in Bangladesh], killing two and injuring several refugees, as well as damaging thousands of bamboo-and-plastic shelters built on the slopes of muddy brown hills.”
“Sea creatures literally rained from the sky during a massive storm in in [Qingdao, China] while the area was also bombarded with hailstones the size of golf balls.”
“Evacuation shelters in earthquake-hit Osaka Prefecture in western Japan saw a huge spike in the influx of people seeking refuge Wednesday as heavy rain in the region sparked concerns about landslides amid ongoing aftershocks.”
“Brad Shephard’s NSW [Australia] farm has transformed from an inland sea to arid and bare in only two years. The grain farmer has compared video of his land near Forbes from 2016 when it was ravaged by floods, with the same dusty spot this week.”
“Tonga’s budget will meet the country’s needs despite its focus being on long term recovery from February’s Cyclone Gita, the country’s finance minister says.”
“This extraordinary crisis [Cape Town’s drought] is clearly due to climatic causes (an uninterrupted succession of dry years), with aggravating factors, such as high sustained urban population growth… and water sharing between the city and agricultural land.”
“Tropical moisture continues to impact the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coasts today and that means very heavy rain is in the forecast. Here is the very latest. Parts of Texas already had record 24 hour rainfall on Tuesday. Here are some of the impressive totals.”
“Heavy rain is hitting Southeast Texas as the Midwest is reeling from its own flooding… Mercy Hospital in Rockford had to divert incoming patients to nearby hospitals on Monday after parts of the facility flooded, hospital officials said.”
“A thunderstorm that swept through southern Manitoba last week, dropping hail the size of golf balls and softballs, could cost Manitoba Public Insurance as much as $20 million.”
“Hurricane Maria ripped away part of the steel roof from Carmen Lidia Torres Mercado’s home in the Puerto Rican capital. Nine months later, she is still relying on a blue plastic tarp to protect her home, even with a new storm season already two weeks old.”
“The severe drought that hit a large part of Ukraine may affect the country’s grain harvest, local media reported Monday citing experts.
“According to Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Tetyana Adamenko, head of the state weather forecasting center’s agricultural department, said that the drought is being observed on 25 percent of the Ukrainian territory.
“Three grain-producing regions in southern and eastern Ukraine were affected the most by the dry weather, Adamenko said, without specifying the projected damage to crops.
“Meanwhile, other local media, citing agricultural experts, reported that Ukraine may lose between 10 percent and 15 percent of its grain harvest due to the drought…”
“Volodymyr Bazhenov, CEO of Voda Kryma company located in Russian-occupied Crimea, says the annexed peninsula may switch to hourly water supply soon due to drought. According to Bazhenov, there is a “wild evaporation of water” in all Crimean surface reservoirs.”
“An unusually bad drought has forced Iraq to suspend the cultivation of rice, corn and other cereals that demand large amounts of water, the agriculture ministry said Monday.”
“…a new satellite image reveals the extent of unloaded rainfall in the nearby desert of Rub’ al-Khali [by Cyclone Mekunu], the world’s largest sand desert and (normally) one of the driest places on Earth. Salalah saw 11 inches of precipitation in just 24 hours, more than double its yearly average… there’s one novel feature… water lakes in the flat lowlands between the sand dune tops.”
“The South West Monsoon, which entered Karnataka [SW India] two days in advance has resulted in record quantum of rainfall received in the state during the month of June and it also deeply affected the normal life causing floods and damages.”
“Kolkata is reeling under a severe heatwave that saw temperatures hover around the 40 degree celsius mark today. With the mercury touching the 41 degrees Celsius mark on Monday, breaking a 10-year record for the month of June, the MeT office has predicted that temperatures may rise further.”
“Heavy rainfall, followed by flash-floods and multiple landslides in different villages of Thannamandi, including Khablan [Jammu and Kashmir], created havoc in the entire area.”
“Northeast India is inundated, again. Over the past few days, floods have hit several states, claiming the lives of at least 25 people and displacing hundreds of thousands of hapless citizens. In Assam, the biggest state in the region, the deluge has reportedly affected nearly 550,000 people.”
“Water overflows over Kanyin Dam spillway in Ayeyawady region [of Myanmar] due to heavy rain, causing water levels to rose ten feet above the spillway, sources said. The highest record of the water exceeded over the spillway was over 9.5 feet in 2011 and now it broke the record.”
“Persistent drizzle is driving Christchurch [New Zealand] towards its gloomiest June ever, with less than an hour of sunshine a day and twice as much rain as usual.”
“Farmers beware: a build-up of warm water in the tropical eastern Pacific has lifted the odds for an El Nino forming late this [southern hemisphere] spring, the Bureau of Meteorology said.”
“The heat wave that rolled in across British Columbia over the weekend is set to continue for the next few days. Environment Canada has now issued a heat warning for many parts of B.C. High temperatures will reach the low 30s today and Tuesday, which is approximately 12 to 14 degrees above the average for the middle of June.”
“A powerful storm system that moved through northern Colorado Monday evening produced baseball-sized hail and powerful winds. The storm damaged cars and homes in the Boulder area, before moving northeast toward Fort Morgan, where 70 mph winds and baseball-sized hail wreaked havoc in Morgan County.”
“A record-breaking heat wave is sizzling across the US, bringing scalding temperatures and dangerous air pollution… The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued an Air Quality Health Advisory for New York City, Long Island, and much of the Hudson Valley in response to the rising temperatures on Monday, urging people to limit outdoor exercise and curb the use of emissions-spewing vehicles and appliances.”
“Deadly floods, heavy rainfall and landslides lashed a couple of [India’s] northeastern states in the past week, claiming scores of lives in Manipur, Assam and Tripura. According to a report, more than 20 people have died in the flash floods and rainfall-induced landslides in Tripura and Manipur and around 30000 people residing in the region were rescued from the flood-affected region in Assam and Tripura. On June 17, a total of 8 tonnes of relief material were dispatched to the victims in Kailashahar and Hailakandi area by the Indian Air Force.
“As per the Central Water Commission report, the water level of river Brahmaputra is rising by 4 to 5 cms per hour and is expected to touch the danger level in the coming days…”
“Thousands of people have remained stranded since Friday night. Three people have been killed in overnight flooding in Moulvibazar’s Komolganj Upazila [Bangladesh]. At least five others are still missing.”
“Several parts of Myanmar’s southern Mon state are facing flash floods due to heavy rains since the weekend with no relief in sight, according to a report in the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar on Monday.”
“On the southern Japanese island of Okinawa was hit by Typhoon “Gaemi”, several areas are declared a warning about record rainfall. This was reported on the website of Japan meteorological Agency… The rate of precipitation in the region is about 110 millimeters per hour. “
“Temperatures have plummeted overnight on [Australia’s] Gold Coast, with the mercury falling below freezing — making it the coldest June morning ever.”
“Residents of Houston got a taste of the incoming weather pattern when a record-breaking 1.26 inches of rain fell on Sunday – nearly five times as much as it had so far in June. This set a new daily rainfall record and also took second place for wettest June day in recorded Houston history.”
“Heavy storms moving across the Upper Midwest this weekend created hazardous flooding that resulted in many road closures and washouts. Some of the worst damage occurred in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on Sunday morning.”
“A dangerous and potentially deadly heat wave has moved into the Midwest, and the hot temperatures are also spreading toward the Northeast to begin this week. Daily record highs were set in a few Midwest cities on Sunday…”
“Sea level rise driven by climate change is set to pose an existential crisis to many US coastal communities, with new research finding that as many as 311,000 homes face being flooded every two weeks within the next 30 years.”
“The rain in Istanbul inundated roads, causing havoc in the city. Some cars were even submerged in torrential downpours that followed lightning flashes across the city… In the western province of Düzce, flash rain has paralyzed traffic…”
“Cotton plantations across Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab may see stunted growth due to dust storms that have raised pollution levels in the north-western region in the last fortnight. The dust has left a thick layer of sand on month-old cotton plants, restricting their vegetative growth.”
“Twenty-two people were killed in weather-related incidents [in India] while torrential rains in northeast states rendered thousands homeless, even as a cloud of dust hung over vast areas of north India on Thursday, bringing down the air quality in Delhi to “severe” level.Fifteen people were killed in dust storms in Uttar Pradesh and seven in rain-related incidents in Assam, Tripura and Manipur.”
“Last year’s monsoon was about a quarter below the norm, while the winter rains – from December to March – were about half the average, he said. “Drought-like conditions have emerged over most parts of Pakistan,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.”
“The first rain of the season poured over the Cox’s Bazar camps [housing Rohingya refugees in Myanmar] and informal settlements last week, inundating most roads. One child reportedly died in a landslide, according to a statement from the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF).”
“Heavy rain has battered southern China all week, with more downpours forecast for this weekend. The subsequent flooding has claimed at least four lives as a result of electrocution, according to official estimates, though locals have reported many more.”
“A tropical depression barreling toward Taiwan may develop into a typhoon later today, bringing with it extremely heavy rain, especially in Tainan City, Kaohsiung City, Yilan County and torrential rain to Pingtung County, according to the Central Weather Bureau .”
“Perth [Western Australia] is set to record its wettest June for five years inside the first 19 days of the month – with another cold front poised to deliver a soaking to the city.”
“The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued an El Niño watch, meaning that conditions are favorable for El Niño conditions to develop in the tropical Pacific Ocean within the next six months.”
“Hail the size of baseballs crashed down on one town on the Saskatchewan/North Dakota border, reportedly causing extensive damage to cars and windows.”
“Montana is about to enter another potentially severe fire season with a paltry $4 million in a firefighting reserve fund after paying the bills from last year’s record-setting summer, officials said Thursday.”
“People in the Chicago area can expect three days of high temperatures at or above 90 from Saturday to Monday… On Monday, temperatures may challenge the record high of 95 set in 1929 in New York City and may burst into the 90s in Boston; Providence, Rhode Island; Hartford, Connecticut; and even Portland, Maine… Record highs in the middle to upper 90s may also be challenged in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., on Monday.”
With dusty desert sprawled across the region, Middle Eastern and north African nations must prepare better for drought as water shortages look set to worsen, the United Nations said on Friday. Over the past 40 years, droughts have become longer and more frequent in the region…”
“A reservoir used to dump ore waste has spilled into the Arctic river and turned it red. The shocking case comes two years after the plant’s owners promised the ugly leakage would never happen again.”
“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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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 death of seasonality: 
We tried to borrow our way out of a debt crisis.
“Flooding killed 17 people in Ivory Coast’s economic capital Abidjan, a minister said on Tuesday. 
