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El Nino Crosses Monstrous Event Threshold
What’s
the worst sin of all? If you agree with the Greek playwrights it
would have to be hubris — or pride so terrible that it results in
blindness. For the fossil fuel industry and its sock puppets — like
Anthony Watts and Bob Tisdale — hubris probably best describes
their response to anything climate change related.
At
least 21 people died, 66 others hospitalised as temperatures reach
highs of 47 degrees Celsius amid high humidity..
At least 21 people
have died and 66 others have been hospitalised with exhaustion as
soaring temperatures and high humidity hit Cairo and other parts of
Egypt, according to the health ministry.
The victims, who all
died on Sunday, succumbed as temperatures reached highs of 42C - in
conditions made less bearable by elevated humidity levels.
Fifteen people died in
Cairo, four in the western province of Marsa Matruh and two in Upper
Egypt's Qena province, the ministry said in a statement on Monday.
Those who died,
including seven women, were all aged over 60.
Sixty-six people were
admitted to hospital after suffering from exhaustion, including 37
who are still under observation, the ministry said.
Temperatures to soar in Egypt heatwave
Soaring
temperatures and high humidity continues to hit Cairo and other parts
of Egypt, with meteorological officials confirming that temperatures
in the capital and some parts of the country are higher than average.
Soaring temperatures and high humidity continues to hit Cairo and other parts of Egypt, with meteorological officials confirming that temperatures in the capital and some parts of the country are higher than average.
Heavy rains and strong winds batter Chile leaving 5 people dead and 1 000 evacuated
Heavy rainfall and strong winds have battered the northern cities of Santiago and Ocotillo, Chile, during the weekend starting on August 8. The Chilean government has declared the state of emergency in response to the storm. 5 people died in flood related incidents, 1 000 were evacuated from the affected areas and about 25 people reported injuries.
According
to the official reports, at least 5 people died in severe flood
related incidents. Three people were killed in northern Chile,
devastated by strong winds, heavy rains and mudslides. Two people
were reported dead in the Valparaiso and Coquina cities, on Saturday,
August
Record Heat Wave in Japan Leads to 32 Deaths in a Week
Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Tuesday that 32 people died from heat stroke during the week between Aug. 3 and Aug. 9 while more than 11,000 required emergency care.
According to the agency, about 53% of the 11,219 patients who were taken to hospitals by ambulance due to heat stroke were 65 years old or older.
It was the second week in a row that over 10,000 people required emergency care for heat stroke in a week. In the previous week between July 27 and Aug. 2, there were 11,995 patients, which was the highest number since the agency began keeping records in 2008.
Temperatures in central Tokyo exceeded 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) for eight straight days between July 31 and Aug. 7, which was the longest streak in history. There were 971 people who required emergency care from heat stroke in Tokyo between Aug. 3 and Aug. 9, compared to 550 from the same week last year.
The mercury in central Tokyo is expected to reach about 32 to 34 degrees Celsius over the next week as well.
Heatwave hits Central and Eastern Europe
Pakistan monsoon flood toll hits 170
At
least 170 people have been killed in Pakistan in this year's monsoon
rains.
Almost
one million people have been affected by the floods and thousands of
acres of agricultural land has been destroyed
Heat wave expected to bake Los Angeles by Thursday
A heat wave is coming to
Los Angeles that will send temperatures into the triple digits for
some communities by the weekend, the National Weather Service said
Monday.
Angelenos will see
temperatures jump 15 to 20 degrees from Monday to Thursday, when a
high-pressure system from Texas is expected to reach the Southland’s
deserts and mountains, said Stuart Seto, a weather specialist with
the NWS.
The hardest-hit areas
will be traditional hot spots like Woodland Hills and Burbank, where
temperatures by the weekend could top out at 103 and 98 degrees,
respectively, Seto said. Downtown Los Angeles will bake in
above-average heat Saturday and Sunday, when temperatures could hit
91 degrees, Seto said.
The temperatures,
though not record-breaking, are still about 10 degrees above average
for this time of year, Seto said. The weather for the last week has
been cooler than average, he dded.
Hong Kong reports the hottest day in the last 130 years
The hottest day in the last 130 years was reported in Hong Kong on Saturday, August 8, 2015 when the temperatures rose up to 37.8 ºC (100 ºF) under the influence of Typhoon "Soudelor".
The daily maximum temperature hit 36.3 ºC (97.3 ºF) in the Hong Kong Observatory while temperatures in some parts of the city soared even higher.
"Under the influence of the outer subsiding air of Typhoon "Soudelor", the weather of Hong Kong was very hot in the afternoon," said the Hong Kong Observatory, as it's premises measured temperatures slightly above the 36.1 ºC (97.0 ºF) records of August 18, and August 19, 1900.
During this heat outburst, the regions of Sheung Shui, Sham Shui Po, Wong Tai Sin and Happy Valley were affected the worst, as the temperatures rose above 37 ºC (98.6 ºF).
Car gets Blown Away during by Mini Tornado in Taiwan
The dash cam footage of Typhoon Soudelor provides a horrifying encounter with a tornado that spun off from the tropical storm from the driver’s point of view. At first, it looks like a typical drive through a stormy area, but the events escalate as the car in front starts flying and a seriously injured woman sits, battered, on the side of the road.
The dashcam date is incorrect, as the Washington Post noted — the date of the video is actually Sunday, August 9. Watch the terrifying tornado up close below:
SIGNS OF THE END PART 94 - LATEST EVENTS AUGUST 2015
A stunning five million acres have now burned in Alaskan wildfires this year
Last month, wildfire watchers were astounded as terrifying wildfires raged across the state of Alaska. Sometimes the records would come in with 300,000 or more new acres burned in a single day. It seemed inevitable that the 2015 wildfire season would quickly catch up with and then surpass the all-time record year, 2004, when 6,590,140 acres burned.
But then the weather shifted. Rains moved in, and satellite analysts downsized their size estimates of some fires. Instead of racing forward, the fire acreage numbers slowed or even stopped their increase. Only recently have they started to tick back up again.
Nonetheless, according to the latest report Tuesday from the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center, Alaska fires have now consumed 5,098,829.9 acres in 2015. That’s about five-sixths of the total acreage consumed by wildfires anywhere in America this year —currently, 6,224,545 acres. It’s also enough to put the 2015 Alaska wildfire season ahead of what was previously the second-place year — 1957, with 5,049,661 acres burned, according to the Alaska Division of Forestry.
Huge Boulders Block Arizona Highway After Flash Flood
The Arizona Department of Transportation reported that a 24-mile-long stretch of the highway was closed from about five miles west of Marble Canyon, Arizona, to Jacob Lake, near the junction of U.S. highways 89A and 67, the route to the north rim of Grand Canyon National Park.
The flash floods were part of a storm that swept through the Gray Mountain area of Arizona, located about 27 miles north of Flagstaff, leaving behind reports of a tornado and wind gusts up to 70 mph, according to AZCentral.com
Vietnam: Drought-hit farmers urged to shift from rice to other crops
The field was dry after many weeks of drought in Tan Thang Commune, Ham Tan District of Binh Thuan Province. About 50,000ha of farmland across the country have been rendered barren by the prolonged drought, mostly in the provinces of Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, Khanh Hoa and Quang Tri. — Photo tuoitre.vn
HA
NOI (VNS) — The agriculture ministry has called on central and
northern provinces hit by the worst drought in 40 years to encourage
a major shift from rice cultivation to drought-resistant crops.
The
ministry's Plant Cultivation Department has asked all localities in
these regions to advise farmers and issue policies supporting this
shift, according to Tin Tuc (News) newspaper.
Parasite Yet Another Threat to Already Troubled Amphibians
The family of parasites, related to a bug that attacks oysters, has been found in the livers of frogs and tadpoles on three continents and in both temperate and tropical climates. Researchers linked it to a mass die-off of tadpoles in a Georgia lake.
"There have been numerous outbreaks with this parasite, what we presume to be the same parasite, all over the eastern part of the United States," said University of Georgia wildlife ecology professor Michael Yabsley, co-author of a study published Monday by the Proceedings of the National of Academy of Sciences. "It's certainly going to be one of the things we are worried about for the long-term health of amphibians."
Are extinct viruses coming back thanks to climate change
As
many continue to debate the existence and causes of global warming,
scientists around the world -- who are in near-lockstep agreement
about both the existence and causes of climate change -- continue to
discover the possible ramifications of warming. Mass extinctions of
plant and animal species, rising sea levels and an increase in number
and severity of storms all make the cut. Now we can add one more
possible consequence of a warmer planet, and it's a frightening one
at that: the resurrection of viruses that were long thought extinct.
In
what reads like the screenplay for a "Jurassic
Park"-type
disaster film, a virus frozen for 30,000 years in the Siberian
permafrost has been discovered, resurrected and used to infect
amoebas in a lab. As dramatic as that sounds, don't panic -- yet.
Scientists responsible for the discovery stress that this new virus
cannot be transmitted to humans -- and so far there is no evidence
that the permafrost is hiding anything that could harm either humans
or larger animals.
But take a look at the key phrase in that last
sentence: "at this point." That's where the climate change
discussion comes in [source: Ghose].
Water Rationing In Puerto Rico Hits The Poor, Leaves Resorts Untouched
Since the usual tropical rains fizzled out in February, the USDA has declared more than a quarter of Puerto Rico a disaster area. In July, usually one of the wettest months, the island got just 4 centimeters of rain. Now, 2.8 million residents live in a part of the country suffering either an “extreme” or “severe” drought, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center.
As the commonwealth’s reservoirs drop to their lowest levels in decades, the government has declared a state of emergency, and implemented strict rationing. Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans now have had tap water only every third day, and that tightened this past weekend, giving families water only two days a week.
“It’s been water for one day, then no water for two days,” explained Fernandez. “In the one day you have water, you fill your buckets.”
China's Communist-Capitalist Ecological Apocalypse
This article seeks to explain why China's environmental crisis is so horrific, so much worse than "normal" capitalism most everywhere else, and why the government is incapable of suppressing pollution even from its own industries. I begin with an overview of the current state of China's environment: its polluted air, waters, farmland and the proximate causes, including overproduction, overdevelopment, profligate resource consumption, uncontrolled dumping and venting of pollutants. I then discuss the political-economic drivers and enablers of this destruction, the dynamics and contradictions of China's hybrid economy, noting how market reforms have compounded the irrationalities of the old bureaucratic collectivist system with the irrationalities of capitalism resulting in a diabolically ruinous "miracle" economy. I conclude with a précis of the emergency steps the country will have to take to take to brake the drive to socio-ecological collapse, with dire implications for us all.
Anger as Australia unveils ‘weak’ climate pledge
(Flickr/Pammie76)
Australia will target
greenhouse gas emissions cuts of 26-28% from 2005 levels by 2030, the
government announced on Tuesday.Canberra’s claims this was a “strong, credible and responsible” contribution to global climate action were met with derision at home and abroad.
“Australia’s weak target is another serious blow to its international reputation,” said Marshall Islands foreign minister Tony de Brum.
“It’s very difficult to understand why a sundrenched Australia needs five years more than the United States to achieve a 26 to 28% emissions reduction.”
The package would “send a serious shudder” through the Pacific, he added, where low-lying island states like de Brum’s face an existential threat from rising sea levels.
Disaster Emergency Declared: Tons of toxins contaminate Animas River in Colorado
The article asks: 'Will Phoenix be abandoned'?
Colorado river is collapsing 'sooner than anyone thought'
This past spring was an unusually wet one, leading to higher-than-average runoff from river's source in the Rocky Mountains. Yet even at atypically high levels, the river still ran dry before reaching its outlet at the Gulf of California.
All of which suggests that the elaborate water distribution system that sustains the cities and farms of the Southwest may be collapsing sooner than anyone expected.
“Australia’s weak target is another serious blow to its international reputation,” said Marshall Islands foreign minister Tony de Brum.
“It’s very difficult to understand why a sundrenched Australia needs five years more than the United States to achieve a 26 to 28% emissions reduction.”
The package would “send a serious shudder” through the Pacific, he added, where low-lying island states like de Brum’s face an existential threat from rising sea levels.
The California Drought Is Creating A New Silent Spring
Try listening to the sounds of nature in dry California, and you'll struggle to hear anything at all.
While the whole nation is paying plenty of attention to the human toll of the state’s ongoing drought—its worst in history, California’s wildlife is suffering far more quietly. And no one knows that better than Bernie Krause, a pioneer in the growing field of soundscape ecology who, since 1968, has made recordings in more than 2,000 types of habitats around the world.
Krause lives in Glen Ellen, California, where he stores his priceless archives and runs his organization, Wild Sanctuary. In recent years, and especially in his new book, Voices of the Wild, he has attempted to call the world’s attention to the declining diversity and richness of nature’s sounds—an excellent and often overlooked proxy for measuring the health of the planet’s wild ecosystems.
Hawaii Emergency Management Prepares For Hilda
Preparation for Hurricane Hilda continues at all levels of government in Hawaii this morning.
In a media release issued at 8:30 a.m. the state reports the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, local emergency management and civil defense agencies, and federal and state partners continued coordination efforts with the National Weather Service (NWS) for Hurricane Hilda. According to the state, there was a briefing today from NWS on expected impacts and track of Hilda and discussion of current and planned actions by the local and state emergency management agencies.
Willow Fire grows to 6,780 acres; 1,000 homes now evacuated
The Willow Fire grew another 780 acres overnight to 6,780 acres with about 1,000 homes that have been evacuated, the Bureau of Land Management said
River that runs through downtown San Jose goes dry; fish and wildlife suffer
On a recent afternoon at Guadalupe River Park in the heart of downtown, a couple strolled hand-in-hand, a mother pushed her toddler in a stroller, and soft breezes rustled the leaves of stately trees near the home of the San Jose Sharks.
But something was missing: the river.
The river that runs through America's 10th-largest city has dried up, shriveling a source of civic pride that had welcomed back trout, salmon, beavers and other wildlife after years of restoration efforts. Over the past two months, large sections of the Guadalupe have become miles of cracked, arid gray riverbed. Fish and other wildlife are either missing or dead, casualties of California's relentless drought.
WEATHER WARNINGS SOUTH AUSTRALIA
A strong cold front and pool of cold air associated with a deep low is causing all sorts of extreme weather in South Australia at the moment.
A
band of rain and possible isolated thunderstorm is about to move
through the Adelaide region as the cold front crosses the area this
afternoon with strong gusty winds tending colder westerly, winds will
remain strong especially with gusty showers.
Showers,
hail and thunder will follow with the cold air indicated in the first
picture. Some of this cold air will move into northern Victoria
overnight and into NSW tomorrow and possible provided light snow on
the central tablelands and perhaps the northern tablelands by
tomorrow night
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