Category Archives: Extreme weather

Pakistan not to blame for climate crisis-fuelled flooding, says PM Shehbaz Sharif

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Sharif’s climate change minister called the flooding a ‘climate catastrophe’ and said the south Asian nation was ‘paying the price’ for western use of fossil fuels

Pakistan is not to blame for a climate crisis-fuelled disaster that has flooded much of the country, the prime minister has said, as he made a desperate plea for international help in what he said was the “toughest moment” in the nation’s history.

“We are suffering from it but it is not our fault at all,” Shehbaz Sharif told journalists on Tuesday afternoon at a press conference where his climate change minister referred to the flooding as a “climate catastrophe”.

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UN and Pakistan appeal for $160m to help flooding victims

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Call for emergency funding as nearly half a million people displaced and estimated $10bn damage to economy

The United Nations and Pakistan are to appeal for $160m (£135m) in emergency funding for the nearly half a million people displaced by record-breaking floods that have killed more than 1,150 people since mid-June.

Large areas remain underwater and more than 33 million people, or one in seven Pakistanis, have been affected by the floods. Rescuers have been evacuating stranded people to safer ground.

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‘Monster monsoon’: why the floods in Pakistan are so devastating

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The climate crisis is the prime suspect, but the vulnerability of poor citizens and other factors are important too

The climate crisis is the prime suspect for the devastating scale of flooding in Pakistan, which has killed more than 1,000 people and affected 30 million. But the catastrophe, still unfolding, is most likely the result of a lethal combination of factors including the vulnerability of poor citizens, steep mountainous slopes in some regions, the unexpected destruction of embankments and dams, and some natural climate variation.

The horrific scale of the floods are not in doubt. “We are witnessing the worst flooding in the history of the country,” said Dr Fahad Saeed, a climate scientist with the Climate Analytics group, who is based in Islamabad.

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Pakistan floods: plea for help amid fears monsoon could put a third of country underwater

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Foreign minister urges countries and IMF to help stricken country after climate change minister speaks of climate ‘catastrophe’

Pakistan’s government has appealed for international help to tackle a flooding emergency that has killed more than 1,000 people and threatens to leave a third of the country – an area roughly the size of Britain – underwater.

Foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Sunday night that floods brought on by weeks of extreme monsoonal rainfall and melting glaciers would worsen Pakistan’s already dire economic situation and that financial aid was needed.

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Pakistan declares floods a ‘climate catastrophe’ as death toll tops 1,000

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Flash flooding from ‘monster monsoon’ washes away villages and crops and leaves thousands homeless

A Pakistani minister has called the country’s deadly monsoon season “a serious climate catastrophe” and “a climate dystopia at our doorstep” as officials said deaths from widespread flooding in Pakistan had passed 1,000 since mid-June.

Flash floods, which have intensified in recent days, have swept away villages, roads, bridges, people, livestock and crops across all four provinces. Pakistan has appealed for international help as soldiers and rescue workers have evacuated stranded people to relief camps and provided food to thousands of displaced people.

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Pakistan floods death toll passes 1,000, say officials

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More than 33 million people have been displaced as destructive monsoon rains continue to wreak havoc

Flash floods triggered by destructive monsoon rains across much of Pakistan have killed more than 1,000 people and injured and displaced thousands more since June, officials have said.

The new death toll came a day after the prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, asked for international help in battling deadly flood damage. More than 33 million people have been displaced.

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Pakistan declares emergency as floods hit over 30 million people

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Authorities say more than 900 killed and 220,000 homes destroyed in worst monsoon rains disaster for a decade

Heavy rain has pounded large areas of Pakistan as the government declared an emergency to deal with monsoon flooding it said had affected more than 30 million people.

The annual monsoon is essential for irrigating crops and replenishing lakes and dams across the Indian subcontinent, but each year it also brings a wave of destruction.

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Flash floods wreak havoc in US south-west – but are no salve for drought

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Climate experts warn temporary increases in water levels will not mitigate a crisis that has been years in the making

Flash floods hitting the American south-west in recent days have shuttered parts of national parks including in Moab and Zion, closed highways in Colorado, submerged cars in Texas and trapped tourists in a New Mexico cave. A young woman remains missing after being swept away while hiking in Zion on Friday.

But the destructive deluges have not been enough to relieve the drought and the continued pressure on water resources, experts say. Even strong storms are unable to overcome dry conditions that are decades in the making.

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Torrential rains lash southern US as millions under flood warnings

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Meteorologists issue warnings for more than 13 million people in north-east Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico and Arizona

Millions of Americans are under flood warnings after heavy rain this weekend in a large portion of the south and south-western US.

Government meteorologists issued flood warnings for more than 13 million people after torrent rainfall created life-threatening conditions in a region including north-east Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and New Mexico.

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Hunger stones, wrecks and bones: Europe’s drought brings past to surface

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Receding rivers and lakes have exposed ghost villages, a Nazi tank and a Roman fort

The warning could not be starker. Wenn du mich siehst, dann weine (“If you see me, then weep”), reads the grim inscription on a rock in the Elbe River near the northern Czech town of Děčín, close to the German border.

As Europe’s rivers run dry in a devastating drought that scientists say could prove the worst in 500 years, their receding waters are revealing long-hidden artefacts, from Roman camps to ghost villages and second world war shipwrecks.

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Chinese city dims lights as record heatwave hits energy supplies

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Highs of over 40C in Chengdu dry up hydropower reservoirs and raise demand for air conditioning

A provincial capital in south-west China has dimmed outdoor advertisements, subway lighting and building signs to save energy as the area struggles with a power crunch triggered by record-high temperatures.

Temperatures rose past 40C (104F) in Sichuan province this week, fuelling massive demand for air conditioning and drying up reservoirs in a region reliant on dams for most of its electricity.

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Weather tracker: flash floods as Europe’s heatwave ends with thunderstorms

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Torrential rains hit parts of England, Italy, France and Belgium, while in China flooding leaves 18 dead

Prolonged heat across parts of northern and western Europe ended with torrential showers and thunderstorms this week.

On Wednesday, parts of southern England received 50-65mm of rainfall within a few hours, causing London’s Gatwick airport to delay and cancel dozens of flights.

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New Zealand floods could take years to clean up, with 1,200 people displaced

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A fourth straight day of rain brought by an ‘atmospheric river’ has damaged roads and homes and forced more than 400 households to evacuate

Torrential downpours that have battered New Zealand for four days straight have caused floods that could take years to clean up and displaced at least 1,200 people from their homes in the top of the South Island.

Friday’s rain comes on top of weeks of wet weather and is worsening conditions in New Zealand’s already sodden landscape. Experts have attributed the unseasonably wet weather to a narrow stream of water vapour, or “atmospheric river”, sitting above the country.

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Thunderstorms in Corsica and parts of Italy leave seven dead

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Girl, 13, among dead as violent storms strike after three days of intense rain in region

Violent thunderstorms with winds of up to 139mph (224km/h) have struck the Mediterranean island of Corsica and parts of Italy, killing seven people and leaving at least a dozen more injured.

On Corsica, a 13-year-old girl died after a tree fell on a campsite where she was staying and a 72-year-old woman was killed when the roof of a beach hut was blown off and struck her car. A 46-year-old man also died on the island in a campsite in the town of Calvi.

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At least 38 people killed as ‘tornado of fire’ rages in northern Algeria

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Hundreds forced to flee homes and at least 200 injured as firefighters battle string of blazes in El Tarf province

Algerian firefighters were on Thursday battling a string of blazes, fanned by drought and a blistering heatwave, that have killed at least 38 people and left destruction in their wake.

Deadly forest fires have become an annual scourge in the north African country, where the climate crisis is turning large areas into a tinderbox.

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Pakistan floods kill 580 and bring misery to millions

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Government accused of inaction as downpours leave schools destroyed, homes ruined, crops failing and cholera on the rise

More than 580 people have died and thousands have lost their homes across Pakistan as torrential rains batter the country.

An estimated 1 million have been affected by heavy rainfall, flash floods and landslides since July as Pakistan endured more than 60% of its normal total monsoon rainfall in three weeks.

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Emergency housing rollout across flood-hit NSW north coast a ‘dog’s breakfast’, critics say

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Government defends measures against claims of slow progress, lack of consultation and a decision to put pods in a flood zone

Fewer than 60 emergency housing pods are being occupied in northern New South Wales nearly six months after the March floods. Critics have lambasted the rollout for poor communication, a lack of transparency and one location being built in a flood zone.

Temporary housing measures for flood victims were first announced at the start of March. The NSW government promised in April to provide 2,000 temporary homes including the pods, caravans, motorhomes and accommodation at recreation camps.

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Wildfires in Europe burn area equivalent to one-fifth of Belgium

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Experts say drought and extreme high temperatures likely to make it a record year for destruction by fires

Across Europe, an area equivalent to one-fifth of Belgium has been ravaged by flames as successive searing heatwaves and a historic drought propel the continent towards what experts say is likely to be a record year for wildfire destruction.

According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis), 659,541 hectares (1.6m acres) of land burned across the continent between January and mid-August, the most at this time of year since records began in 2006.

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Build an ark and ditch the pots: how to save your garden in a drought

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As official drought is declared in parts of England, here are some measures to preserve and future-proof gardens

With British gardens facing record temperatures, drought and hosepipe bans, it’s time for emergency measures. It’s particularly important because during drought, additional mains water is drawn from wild sources, affecting struggling wildlife. Here are some of the things you can do.

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UK weather: extreme heat warning in place for England and Wales as near 500% increase in wildfires reported – as it happened

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This live blog has now closed.

London Fire Brigade has called on people to avoid barbecues during the extreme weather, following a grass fire in Hayes, west London, yesterday.

It tweeted:

Firefighters tackled another grass fire in #Hayes which damaged around 400sqm of grass and shrubland, along with some boundary fencing, a chicken coop & a shed.

Remember - don’t barbecue in parks, dispose of cigarettes properly & clear away rubbish & glass.

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