The year 2019 saw devastating wildfires in the west, rising sea levels on the Gulf coast, melting permafrost in Alaska and a destructive hurricane in the neighboring Bahamas. But the year to April 2019 had also been the US’s wettest 12 months since records began as extremes became the norm
Continue reading...Category Archives: Extreme weather
Australia experiences hottest day on record and its worst ever spring bushfire danger
Tuesday’s average maximum 0f 40.9C was Australia’s hottest ever and follows the driest and second warmest spring on record
Australia has just experienced its hottest day on record and its worst spring on record for dangerous bushfire weather, according to data released by the Bureau of Meteorology.
Preliminary analysis suggested that Tuesday was the hottest day on record for Australia, with an average maximum across the country of 40.9C. The temperature beat the previous 40.3C set on 7 January 2013, in a record going back to 1910.
Continue reading...Australia weather: records forecast to be broken as heatwave temperatures surge past 40C
Oodnadatta and Port Augusta forecast to reach 48C and Sydney’s western suburbs to hit 45C
December heat records are expected to tumble in Australia from Wednesday as a heatwave moves across South Australia to Victoria and New South Wales.
Temperatures are forecast to peak in Victoria and South Australia on Friday, with Oodnadatta and Port Augusta to reach 48C, and peak in NSW on Saturday.
Continue reading...Killer heat: US cities’ plans for coming heatwaves fail to protect vulnerable
Exclusive: With heatwaves predicted to worsen dramatically over the next 30 years, many big US cities are failing to fully plan to protect those most vulnerable to extreme heat
When heatwaves hammered US cities this summer, one of the hottest in recorded history, some city governments had plans in place to protect their most at-risk residents.
Philadelphia’s plan sent homeless outreach teams to distribute water and bring people to cooling centers. Austin’s plan suspended electricity shutoffs for low-income or fixed-income customers. Chicago’s plan dispatched building inspectors to monitor shelters and other buildings without air conditioning.
Continue reading...Thousands flee Typhoon Kammuri in the Philippines – video
More than 200,000 people have been evacuated from their homes, say officials, after Typhoon Kammuri slammed into the central Philippines.
The typhoon, the country's 20th this year, brought winds of up to 124mph (200km/h) and caused flooding and landslides. Hundreds of flights at Manila's Ninoy Aquino airport were cancelled. At least three people are reported to have been killed
Continue reading...Climate emergency: world ‘may have crossed tipping points’
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.
Continue reading...Dozens killed by floods and landslides in DRC and Kenya
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.
Continue reading...Venice closes St Mark’s Square as floods hit for third time in week
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.
Continue reading...‘An apocalypse happened’: Venice counts cost of devastating floods
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.
Continue reading...Climate crisis: 11,000 scientists warn of ‘untold suffering’
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.”
Continue reading...Japan’s PM pledges to act after homeless men denied typhoon refuge
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.
Continue reading...Typhoon Hagibis: millions across Japan advised to evacuate
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.
Continue reading...Torrential rain causes flooding as Typhoon Hagibis hits Japan – video
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
Continue reading...Storm Imelda lashes Texas with ‘life-threatening’ amounts of rainfall – video
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
Continue reading...Towns in south-east Spain submerged after severe storms – video report
At least six people have died as a result of record-breaking rain during the past two days. More than 1,100 military personnel have been deployed to the regions of Murcia and Valencia to help evacuate thousands to safety after floods submerged roads.
Continue reading...Reporting on Hurricane Dorian: ‘It was a scene of complete devastation’
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.
Continue reading...Torrential rains flood south-east Spain – in pictures
Five die in devastating storms that produce some of the heaviest rainfall in years
Continue reading...Bahamas: new storm threatens Hurricane Dorian relief efforts
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.
Continue reading...Four dead as torrential rain and floods batter Spain
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.
Continue reading...World ‘gravely’ unprepared for effects of climate crisis – report
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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