A cyclone that made landfall in Oman on Sunday has killed at least 13 people, and others are missing as the storm moved further inland and weakened. Omani state television broadcast images of flooded roadways and valleys as the storm churned deeper into the sultanate, its outer edges reaching the neighbouring United Arab Emirates
Continue reading...Category Archives: Extreme weather
Children set for more climate disasters than their grandparents, research shows
Climate crisis brings stark intergenerational injustice but rapid emission cuts can limit damage
People born today will suffer many times more extreme heatwaves and other climate disasters over their lifetimes than their grandparents, research has shown.
The study is the first to assess the contrasting experience of climate extremes by different age groups and starkly highlights the intergenerational injustice posed by the climate crisis.
Continue reading...Cop26: Women must be heard on climate, say rights groups
Those worst hit by global heating are left out of talks, says feminist coalition calling for systemic change
Women must be enabled to play a greater role at the Cop26 summit, as the needs of women and girls are being overlooked amid the global climate crisis, a coalition of feminist groups has said.
The Global Women’s Assembly for Climate Justice has laid out a call for action at the UN general assembly, including demands that world leaders meeting at Cop26, in Glasgow this November, must end fossil fuel expansion and move to 100% renewable energy.
Continue reading...Salt-tolerant crops ‘revolutionise’ life for struggling Bangladeshi farmers
As sea levels rise, growers are employing innovative methods to adapt to saline soils
Like millions of people across Bangladesh, Anita Bala, 45, relies on a small plot of land to feed her family.
But for years nothing would grow. Her husband farmed shrimp in the salty ponds on their land, but the surrounding ground was barren. Bala’s efforts to cultivate beans and pulses failed repeatedly. Eventually she gave up.
Continue reading...‘Climate crisis on our shores’: Mediterranean countries sign deal after summer of fires
Region’s leaders make joint declaration vowing to step up efforts to address extreme weather
With the catastrophic effects of this summer’s unprecedented wildfires still being counted, leaders from around the Mediterranean – the European region most at risk from climate breakdown – have vowed to intensify their efforts to tackle the challenges posed by extreme weather.
A joint declaration, signed in Athens, has fired the starting shot on what is hoped will bring groundbreaking change in how the neighbouring states shore up their defences against natural disasters.
Continue reading...Drought puts 2.1 million Kenyans at risk of starvation
National disaster declared as crops fail after poor rains and locusts, while ethnic conflicts add to crisis
An estimated 2.1 million Kenyans face starvation due to a drought in half the country, which is affecting harvests.
The National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) said people living in 23 counties across the arid north, northeastern and coastal parts of the country will be in “urgent need” of food aid over the next six months, after poor rains between March and May this year.
Continue reading...Spain wildfire: almost 1,000 emergency workers fighting blaze
Fire in Andalucía region rages for sixth day having already forced evacuation of thousands of people
Almost 1,000 firefighters and emergency workers are battling one of the most intractable Spanish wildfires in recent years as the blaze rages for a sixth day, after devouring at least 7,400 hectares (18,285 acres) of land in the southern region of Andalucía and forcing the evacuation of more than 2,600 people.
On Sunday, 260 members of Spain’s military emergencies unit were deployed to help tackle the fire, which began last Wednesday in the mountainous Sierra Bermeja above the resort town of Estepona, and which now has a perimeter of 53 miles (85km). Experts hope the rain forecast across much of the country on Monday will help extinguish the blaze.
Continue reading...The quest to find African American graves before they’re lost to climate crisis
As both the climate crisis and development intensify, Black cemeteries are now at a disproportionate risk of being lost, some before they have even been officially found
On a cloudy weekend day in May, Jennifer Blanks took a trip to Canaan cemetery in Bryan, Texas. The six-acre site is the final resting place for a community of primarily Black farmers and veterans, with generations stretching back to the 1800s. Among the interred is Powell Harvey, the first Black man to serve as the Brazos county constable.
If Blanks hadn’t known this before visiting, though, she might have missed many of the graves completely.
Continue reading...Mexico hit by powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake – video
A powerful earthquake has struck south-west Mexico near the beach resort of Acapulco, killing at least one person who was crushed by a falling post and causing rockfalls and damaging buildings. The 7.0-magnitude quake shook the hillsides around the resort, downing trees and pitching large boulders on to the road
Continue reading...New York mayor: Ida devastation shows need to prepare for ‘very, very worst’
Dozens died across the north-east as the storm system passed through and the climate crisis makes extreme weather more likely
As the north-eastern US reeled from catastrophic damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida, politicians and city officials warned that the climate crisis will bring more such events. According to the mayor of New York City, people should prepare for the “very, very worst”.
Related: New York floods: calls for action after 11 die in basement apartments
Continue reading...Hurricane Ida death toll nears 60 as states begin to comb through debris
- Two more evacuated nursing home residents died in Louisiana
- New York: calls for action after 11 die in basement apartments
The US death toll from Hurricane Ida rose towards 60 on Saturday, nearly a week after one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the US mainland made landfall in Louisiana. Two more evacuated nursing home residents were confirmed to have died in the southern state.
Related: Louisiana Shell refinery left spewing chemicals after Hurricane Ida
Continue reading...New York floods: calls for action after 11 die in basement apartments
Tens of thousands of New Yorkers, many immigrants or people of color, live in basements vulnerable to extreme weather
Most people killed in New York City in a record-breaking storm this week lived in basement apartments. Walls of water crashed into their homes, trapping them inside and blocking efforts to help.
Related: ‘People did extraordinary things’: Ida rescuers lauded for heroic efforts
Continue reading...Hurricane Ida: more than 1m without power as New Orleans assesses damage
Crews using airboats and helicopters conduct search and rescue missions after at least two people killed
More than 1 million homes and businesses remained without power in and around New Orleans on Monday as residents and authorities began to assess “catastrophic” damage from Hurricane Ida, a 150mph monster storm that was the most powerful ever to hit Louisiana.
Related: New Orleans battered by Hurricane Ida as storm claims first victim in Louisiana
Continue reading...Hurricane Ida’s rampage through Louisiana – in pictures
Up to 2 million people in and around New Orleans were without power after Hurricane Ida, a 150mph monster storm that was the most powerful ever to hit Louisiana. At least one person was killed, by a falling tree, but the governor, John Bel Edwards, warned that the death toll will probably rise
Continue reading...Hurricane Ida barrels down on Louisiana amid warnings of ‘life-altering storm’
Tens of thousands in US face evacuation orders as storm makes first landfall in Cuba, sparking fears of floods and mudslides
Hurricane Ida rapidly gained strength on Friday evening as communities in southern Louisiana braced for a major category 4 storm with sustained winds of about 140mph and tens of thousands of residents were placed under mandatory evacuation orders.
The hurricane is due to make landfall in the US on Sunday, with officials warning of a “life-altering storm”. The cities of New Orleans and Lafayette, as well as the state capital, Baton Rouge, are under threat from Ida, which is forecast to reach the US somewhere between the parishes of Terrebone and St Mary, slightly west of New Orleans.
Continue reading...Caldor fire advances towards Lake Tahoe as communities clouded in smoke
Fire was less than two dozen miles from Lake Tahoe on Wednesday evening, at times burning 1,000 acres of land an hour
A wind-driven wildfire continued to advance towards Lake Tahoe, clouding the alpine vacation and tourist spot on the California-Nevada state line in a sickly yellow layer of smoke.
The Caldor fire on Wednesday evening was less than two dozen miles (37km) from Lake Tahoe, at times burning 1,000 acres (405 hectares) of land an hour.
Continue reading...Haiti’s earthquake has compounded years of corruption and political crisis | Jonathan M Katz
The 2010 earthquake response was riddled with failure. Haitians cannot afford another catastrophe
The latest statistics from Haiti’s August 14 earthquake are stark: at least 2,207 people have been confirmed dead and more than 12,000 injured. More than 130,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed. Aftershocks continue, and new landslides in the wake of the follow-on Tropical Storm Grace mean those numbers are expected to rise in the coming weeks.
But the most dispiriting number is 11. That is the number of years that passed between Haiti’s last major earthquake and this one – years in which corruption has hollowed out the state, armed gangs have expanded their territorial control, and political turmoil has intensified, culminating in the assassination of the president, Jovenel Moïse, in July.
Continue reading...German Greens under fire over 19th-century folk song in election ad
Greens go for wide appeal with reworked campfire song with no mention of devastating floods
Germany’s Green party has been accused of attempting to revive its hippyish origins rather than tackle the challenges of the present with the release of a campaign ad for next month’s federal election that revives a 19th-century folk song.
Five weeks before a general election, in which at one point the party was leading in the polls, the one-minute-long commercial is being seen by some critics as a deliberate and last-ditch attempt to appeal to as wide a constituency as possible as it battles for second place against the resurgent Social Democrats.
Continue reading...Haiti earthquake 10 days on: survivors still ‘hungry and thirsty’ – video report
The death toll is still rising 10 days after a catastrophic earthquake struck southern Haiti on the morning of 14 August. More than 2,200 deaths have been recorded so far, while at least 30,000 families have had to abandon their homes. Many were sleeping on the streets when Tropical Storm Grace struck two days later, bringing high winds and pelting rain. But despite the hardship, many Haitians are wary of the massive international aid response that is under way
Continue reading...Haiti needs help, but ‘not from aid workers who never leave their SUVs’
Beset by earthquakes, poverty and gang violence, the country is desperate for aid. However it must be the right kind, say locals
The death toll is still rising 10 days after a catastrophic earthquake struck southern Haiti on the morning of 14 August, levelling much of Les Cayes and the surrounding region.
More than 2,200 deaths have been recorded so far, while at least 30,000 families have had to abandon their homes. Many were sleeping on the streets when Tropical Storm Grace struck two days later, bringing high winds and pelting rain.
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