Category Archives: Extreme weather

Climate emergency: world ‘may have crossed tipping points’

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Warning of ‘existential threat to civilisation’ as impacts lead to cascade of unstoppable events

The world may already have crossed a series of climate tipping points, according to a stark warning from scientists. This risk is “an existential threat to civilisation”, they say, meaning “we are in a state of planetary emergency”.

Tipping points are reached when particular impacts of global heating become unstoppable, such as the runaway loss of ice sheets or forests. In the past, extreme heating of 5C was thought necessary to pass tipping points, but the latest evidence suggests this could happen between 1C and 2C.

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Dozens killed by floods and landslides in DRC and Kenya

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Hundreds of thousands of people in need of aid as heavy rain lashes east Africa

Dozens of people have died in flooding in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) when the Congo river and its tributaries burst their banks, a charity and media reports said on Saturday, as heavy rains also lashed east Africa.

Twenty-five people were reported to have been killed in the northwestern province of Équateur bordering Congo-Brazzaville, Congolese media reports said.

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Venice closes St Mark’s Square as floods hit for third time in week

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Italian city suffers worst series of high tides since 1872, with an estimated cost of €1bn

Venice has closed St Mark’s Square as the city suffered a third major flooding in less than a week, while rain lashed the rest of Italy and warnings were issued in Florence and Pisa.

Venice was hit with an “acqua alta”, or high water, of 150cm (5ft) on Sunday, lower than Tuesday’s 187cm – the highest level in half a century – but still dangerous.

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‘An apocalypse happened’: Venice counts cost of devastating floods

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Businesses and residents say they feel helpless as they brace for next high tides

As tourists posed for selfies at St Mark’s Square on Wednesday evening, shop owners mopped the floors of their premises and cleared debris while assessing the cost of the damage caused by record high tides.

“An apocalypse happened,” said Antonella Rossi, who owns a handmade jewellery shop under the portico that surrounds the square.

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Climate crisis: 11,000 scientists warn of ‘untold suffering’

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Statement sets out ‘vital signs’ as indicators of magnitude of the climate emergency

The world’s people face “untold suffering due to the climate crisis” unless there are major transformations to global society, according to a stark warning from more than 11,000 scientists.

“We declare clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency,” it states. “To secure a sustainable future, we must change how we live. [This] entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems.”

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Japan’s PM pledges to act after homeless men denied typhoon refuge

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Shinzo Abe says pair should have had access to shelter in Tokyo during Typhoon Hagibis

The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has promised to take action after two homeless men were refused access to a shelter as Typhoon Hagibis barrelled into Tokyo.

The powerful storm hit Japan’s main island on Saturday with strong winds and heavy rainfall that caused more than 200 rivers to overflow, leaving thousands of homes flooded, damaged or without power.

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Typhoon Hagibis: millions across Japan advised to evacuate

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Tokyo braced for arrival of storm and up to 60cm of rain as flights and trains cancelled

More than 1 million people in Japan have been ordered to leave their homes as Typhoon Hagibis bears down on Tokyo, having already caused power outages, flooding and widespread travel disruption.

The storm is 870 miles (1,400km) wide, with winds of 100mph (162km/h) at its centre and gusts of up to 134mph. Hagibis is being compared to a typhoon in 1958 that killed 1,200 people and caused destruction across the Tokyo area and Shizuoka prefecture.

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Torrential rain causes flooding as Typhoon Hagibis hits Japan – video

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Japan has been engulfed by heavy rain and strong winds as what is feared to be the worst storm for six decades batters the country and approaches Tokyo. Rivers swelled, boats flipped over and seas were whipped up by Typhoon Hagibis. The storm is expected to hit the capital later on Saturday

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Storm Imelda lashes Texas with ‘life-threatening’ amounts of rainfall – video

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More than 1,000 people have been evacuated after tropical storm Imelda brought chaos to Texas with up to 40 inches of rainfall and flash flooding. Governor Greg Abbott declared 13 counties disaster zones as the National Weather Service warned 'life-threatening amounts of rainfall' had fallen, with more expected over Thursday

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Reporting on Hurricane Dorian: ‘It was a scene of complete devastation’

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New York reporter recalls challenges of covering a disaster as huge as the category 5 storm that ripped through the Bahamas

How do you start an interview with someone who has just lost everything?

With the floodwaters just receded, the stench of mould beginning to creep into the hollowed-out buildings that survived two days of pummelling winds, and bloated corpses still being recovered, that was a question I was forced to grapple with last week in the Bahamas.

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Bahamas: new storm threatens Hurricane Dorian relief efforts

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Tropical Storm Humberto expected to drop up to 15cm of rain as operation to provide food and shelter continues

A tropical storm carrying heavy rain and strong winds is nearing the already devastated Bahamas, threatening to complicate Hurricane Dorian recovery efforts as the UN secretary general arrived in the islands in a show of support.

The new weather system, known as Tropical Storm Humberto,is expected to drop up to 15cm (6 inches) of rain through the weekend in areas of the islands inundated by Dorian, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Centre.

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Four dead as torrential rain and floods batter Spain

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Almería and Murcia airports closed with many areas on high alert as downpours continue

Four people have died as heavy rain and flash-flooding continue to batter south-eastern Spain, swelling rivers, turning roads into torrents and forcing the shutdown of two regional airports.

Police in Almería said a middle-aged man died in the early hours of Friday after his car became trapped in a tunnel that flooded in minutes.

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World ‘gravely’ unprepared for effects of climate crisis – report

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Trillions of dollars needed to avoid ‘climate apartheid’ but this is less than cost of inaction

The world’s readiness for the inevitable effects of the climate crisis is “gravely insufficient”, according to a report from global leaders.

This lack of preparedness will result in poverty, water shortages and levels of migration soaring, with an “irrefutable toll on human life”, the report warns.

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Hundreds of Bahamian evacuees ordered off boat due to lack of US visas

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Crew said people without visas must disembark ferry to Florida because of CBP’s ‘last-minute call’ that they would not be admitted

More than a hundred Bahamian citizens desperate to escape the devastation of Hurricane Dorian were ordered off a ferry to Florida, sparking a dispute between US immigration officials and the operator of the vessel.

Related: Search for survivors of Hurricane Dorian continues in Bahamas

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Bahamas sends 900 security personnel to hurricane-hit islands

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  • Government acts to avert profiteering in wake of disaster
  • Officials still trying to reach areas cut off by floods and debris

The government of the Bahamas has sent 900 police and military personnel to the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama hardest hit by Hurricane Dorian, while taking action to stave off any profiteering by private sector rescue missions amid signs of chaos in some of the aid operations.

The destruction caused by the hurricane was still unfolding as a humanitarian and environmental disaster a week after it landed in the northern reaches of the Bahamas as a category 5 tempest.

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Hurricane Dorian: thousands may still be missing as death toll hits 43

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Rescuers battle to reach devastated communities as cruise ships arrive with supplies and volunteers

Rescue teams are still struggling to reach some flood-hit Bahamian communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian as top officials said the death toll had risen to 43, while it is feared hundreds, perhaps thousands, remain missing.

Government agencies and charities continued to bring desperately needed relief efforts to the Bahamas, including cruise ships loaded with supplies and volunteers.

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Hurricane Dorian: 70,000 in ‘immediate need of lifesaving’ help in Bahamas – as it happened

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We’re logging off here, but our reporters in the Bahamas and North Carolina will continue our Dorian coverage this weekend. Here’s a wrap up of everything that happened today:

Fears are growing that damage to a major oil storage terminal on the shore of Grand Bahama Island could cause oil to leak into the ocean, potentially damaging reefs and wildlife off the coast.

Absolutely CATASTROPHIC #oilspill in #GrandBahama from #HurricaneDorian at the #Statoil / @Equinor facility. Teams need to be here TODAY to a) prevent a fire from starting (oil across the highway where people are trying to help) b) stop any/all spillage to ocean and c) clean up pic.twitter.com/8u3e2BDYdY

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‘It’s all gone’: shattered Bahamas counts cost of Hurricane Dorian’s destruction

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Lashing rain, 185mph winds – the ferocious storm has left 43 dead and hundreds missing. Oliver Laughland reports from the rubble of Grand Bahama

As Erica Roberts clung to a tall mango tree, the winds and sea water churned up by Hurricane Dorian pounding her face, a single thought ran through her head: “I will not die like this.”

Related: 'I thought no one was coming to rescue us': Abaco Islanders flee Dorian's destruction

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