National academies say effects include spread of diseases and worse mental health
A report by experts from 27 national science academies has set out the widespread damage global heating is already causing to people’s health and the increasingly serious impacts expected in future.
Scorching heatwaves and floods will claim more victims as extreme weather increases but there are serious indirect effects too, from spreading mosquito-borne diseases to worsening mental health.
Continue reading...Severe weather has spawned multiple tornadoes, flooding and even snow across America’s Midwest and Northeast
Continue reading...Tackling air pollution could make bouts of extreme temperatures more likely, according to a study
Air pollution is a killer. But cleaning it up could have deadly consequences. A study shows that by the end of the century, cleaner air may bring stronger heatwaves.
It has long been known air pollution has been helping to prevent even greater global heating. Sulphate particles reflect heat back into space and other pollutants encourage cloud formation. But until now, it has not been clear where and when warming will occur if we clean up our skies.
Continue reading...A category 5 storm has torn through the Bay of Bengal, lashing beaches with rain and winds of up to 205km/h, affecting weather as far away as Mount Everest
Continue reading...After Maria is a graphic novella by Dr Gemma Sou and John Cei Douglas about a family’s recovery from Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico in 2017
On 20 September 2017, Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, a US territory that is home to 3.3 million people. Maria devastated the Caribbean island, causing more than $30bn in damage, and an initial death toll of 64 grew to an estimated figure of between 2,975 and 4,645. Many of the deaths happened during the aftermath from treatable chronic illnesses, because power outages prevented people from receiving routine medical care – but most of the media had left by November.
Dr Gemma Sou of the University of Manchester visited Puerto Rico five times during the first year after Maria to talk to families about their recovery. One of the results is After Maria, extracted here, a graphic novella about a fictional family in the neighbourhood of Ingenio that is based on common experiences Sou heard from Puerto Ricans across the island.
Continue reading...Residents of Port Hedland and Karratha in Western Australia prepare for Cyclone Veronica, due to hit on Sunday morning
Cyclone Trevor has struck the Northern Territory as a category four system, hammering remote communities with destructive 250 km/h winds and torrential rain.
Continue reading...Munich Re, world’s largest reinsurance firm, warns premium rises could become social issue
Insurers have warned that climate change could make cover for ordinary people unaffordable after the world’s largest reinsurance firm blamed global warming for $24bn (£18bn) of losses in the Californian wildfires.
Ernst Rauch, Munich Re’s chief climatologist, told the Guardian that the costs could soon be widely felt, with premium rises already under discussion with clients holding asset concentrations in vulnerable parts of the state.
Continue reading...The 100mph tropical cyclone has affected 1.5 million people across Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe
Continue reading...Study rates this week’s unprecedented monsoonal rainfall as comparable to a one in 1,000-year flood
Australian authorities must plan for more severe floods, experts have warned, amid concern that the management of the Townsville Ross River dam contributed to extensive flooding when a massive amount of water was released downstream.
The decision to open the floodgates when the dam water level reached 43m was based on a 2012 study that warned doing so could cause more extensive property damage during the most extreme flooding events.
Continue reading...There are several more days to go in this flood event, Bureau of Meteorology warns
Queensland authorities have said the state’s north was entering “unprecedented territory” as monsoon rains battered the city of Townsville, setting record flood levels and destroying homes.
As the natural disaster entered its four day, the state emergency service confirmed on Saturday that 80 people had been rescued. It was too early to quantify the damage to homes, although some media reports said at least 50 homes had been affected so far.
Continue reading...Bureau of Meteorology expecting rainfall totals of up to 400mm per day for multiple days
Residents in northern Queensland have been warned to prepare for more downpours and flooding over the weekend and into next week amid a monsoon that has dumped more than 1.2 metres of rain in some places.
A huge swath of the state stretching 850km from Daintree in far north Queensland to Mackay in the southern end of the tropical belt has been designated as a flood watch zone. The area includes the Great Barrier Reef tourist centre of Cairns as well as parts of Cape York peninsula in the far north.
Continue reading...A blast of Arctic air from the polar vortex has caused temperatures to drop to as low as -46C (-50F) in Chicago. Cities in the midwest opened warming shelters as temperatures plummeted well below zero. The Illinois governor warned the weather 'poses a serious threat' to people's wellbeing. The polar vortex, a mass of freezing air, usually spins around the North Pole
Continue reading...Some describe having to take it easy on the stairs after heatwave reports leave them cold
New Zealanders have poked fun at health warnings issued after the country was hit by a heatwave that reached only 25C in some of the country’s main cities.
Some described how they had to pause – briefly – while climbing the stairs, and open windows in 21C heat, a far cry from the temperatures of over 49C recorded in Australia as a result of the same weather system.
Continue reading...With high temperatures also forecast for Victoria and NSW, there are warnings about potential power outages and blackouts, as well as total fire bans amid worsening weather. Follow developments live
Yes please.
Elite marketing by Royal Park Foodland #adelaideheatwave pic.twitter.com/IMMLZdywLq
Just on the issue of heatwaves and climate change, the ABC Melbourne presenter Rafael Epstein has pointed to recent statements from Victoria’s Bureau of Meteorology (Bom).
Just in case someone says hot weather has nothing to do with climate change
"Australia's climate is increasingly influenced by global warming... has warmed by just over one degree since 1910, with most of the warming occurring since 1950."
From @BOM_Vic this month
Heavy snowfall has caused chaos in Germany and Austria, as both countries remain on high alert. Several people have died in weather-related incidents. Troops have been deployed to help residents and helicopters are clearing snow from trees to stop it from falling on cars.
Continue reading...Alpine regions remain on high alert after 12 people are killed in weather-related incidents
Parts of Germany and Austria remain on high alert after extreme snow in Alpine regions, where 12 people have died in weather-related incidents.
A nine-year-old German boy was the latest victim of the extreme weather, which has resulted in residents becoming snowed-in and motorists trapped for hours in freezing temperatures.
Continue reading...