2020 has been a record year for flooding in the Asia-Pacific region, with cities in East, Southeast, and South Asia seeing economic losses, loss of life, and widespread displacement due to heavy rains.“
“The figures are staggering — in China alone, 2.7 million were evacuated and 63 million were affected, while Nepal has experienced 4,500 landslides, and, at one point, one-third of Bangladesh was underwater.
“Another 17 million were affected by flooding in South Asia. Floods also impacted parts of Indonesia, and in the past month, Vietnam and the Philippines have also been hit.”
A new report has found more than 75% of India’s districts are hot spots of extreme climate events. “
“With an unusual spike in extreme events since 2005, these districts are bearing the effects of changing microclimate with loss of property, livelihoods and lives.”
Following the Horn of Africa’s strongest storm ever, resource partners visit ongoing desert locust survey and control operations in affected areas:“
“Representatives from the European Union, Germany and Switzerland visited various desert locust affected areas during a three-day mission…
“For more than a year now, the desert locust upsurge has been the worst the country has faced in decades.”
A human rights group has urged authorities in Bulawayo [Zimbabwe] to immediately activate disaster response mechanisms as flash floods continue to pound parts of the city, destroying infrastructure and property…“
“Last year, the State’s disaster management agency, Civil Protection Unit (CPU) was blamed for poor response mechanisms after failing to take measures to prepare for, and reduce the effects of Cyclone Idai which killed hundreds and displaced thousands in the country.”
Turkish scientists cautioned that the world may end up unable to return if humanity does not learn necessary lessons, talking about growing trends of risky weather events, particularly high temperatures.“
“November 2020 was the warmest November on record,” Huseyin Toros, an expert in atmospheric science and air quality at Istanbul Technical University, said: “Humanity is shooting itself in the foot…””
Heavy rains have battered parts of Slovenia and Croatia [you may recall that Split was hit with a remarkable rainfall-event last week] close to the Adriatic Sea coast, causing floods and landslides, blocking roads and disrupting traffic.“
“In Croatia, rain and winds kept ferries to and from the islands in port and flooded coastal towns.”
Record-breaking snowfall blanketed the Obertilliach Ski Resort in East Tyrol, Austria, on December 9, according to local reports… “
“Markus Bayrhofer posted this live stream video… “2m [6.6 feet] of snow in 4 days was very unusual,” Bayrhofer said.””
Decomposing mink buried in dirt pits in Denmark following a nationwide cull may have contaminated groundwater, a local radio station reported.“
“The Danish government ordered a cull of some 17 million mink in early November after outbreaks of coronavirus hit hundreds of farms and authorities found mutated strains of the virus among people.”
Scotland’s most globally important species and natural habitats are being “devastated” by air pollution, according to a new report. “
“The Plantlife paper, commissioned by the Scottish Government, found that 80 per cent of land within special areas of conservation – such as the Cairngorms – now have intolerable nitrogen levels.”
Winter temperatures are rising across the US, with some of the most pronounced increases occurring near the Great Lakes.“
“In Illinois, average daily temperatures in the winter season in the last 30 years have increased 2.5 degrees, relative to about a century earlier…”
‘That roof over there is mine’: Guatemala’s flooded communities…“
“The Guatemalan Coordinator for the Reduction of Disaster (CONRED)… lists 2.4 million people affected by flooding, with more than 270,000 in temporary shelters. However, David Deleon, a spokesman for CONRED, acknowledges that they do not yet know the total amount of loss and damage to property.”
Massive flooding sinks cars in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil, December 8 2020.”“
Uruguay will declare an agricultural emergency for 10 departments, as the country is being hit by drought…“
“In total, 5.5Mha are affected by the measure, which will initially remain in force for 60 days, daily El Observador reported quoting the head of the agriculture ministry’s rural development office, Carlos Rydström.”
Marine heatwaves driving change in Hokkaido’s fishing industry:“
“Surrounded by the bountiful waters of the Sea of Japan, the Pacific and the Sea of Okhotsk, Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido accounts for 20% of the country’s total fisheries output. But recent years have seen record low catches of salmon, saury and squid, among others.”
Australia’s hottest spring on record, which saw temperatures more than 2C above average, would have been “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change, new analysis has found.“
“A spring as hot as the one Australians just experienced would come along only once every half a million years without the extra greenhouse gases in the atmosphere…”
In a summer that was supposed to be unusually cool and wet [due to La Nina], Australian builder Rob Lye did not expect to be trapped by a bushfire on sub-tropical Fraser Island and battling with his neighbours to protect their homes.“
“…scientists say wildfires like the one that tore through half of the island’s forest in recent weeks are increasingly likely.”
Australia could run out of locally grown rice by January next year after a combination of droughts, low allocations of irrigation water and Covid-19 panic buying created a shortage. “
“According to forecasts from SunRice, who currently produce 98 per cent of Australian rice, all rice on supermarket shelves will be imported from early 2021.”
An enormous iceberg is heading toward South Georgia Island in the southern Atlantic, where scientists say a collision could devastate wildlife by threatening the food chain.“
“Scientists have long been watching this climate-related event unfold…
“The peninsula is one of the fastest-warming places on Earth, registering a record high temperature of 20.75 degrees Celsius (69.35 degrees Fahrenheit) on Feb. 9.”
The scientists, who in 2020 participated in an expedition onboard the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh research-survey vessel, plan to continue studies of methane emissions, which emerge in Russia’s Arctic seas due to the thawing permafrost, said Igor Semiletov of the Ilichev Pacific Oceanological Institute (the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Far Eastern Branch)…“
“The scientists want to put together the first ever 3D map of massive methane emissions with the indication of their depths.”
Emails from the edge: Svalbard’s polar bears are sending messages to scientists…“
“These large mammals are canaries in this frigid coal mine. A warming climate means a vast amount of sea ice is melting in the region, and rising temperatures are also preventing seasonal ice — which melts and recurs annually — from forming in places it once did.”
The Earth remains on course to warm beyond 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 Fahrenheit) by the end of the century (an optimistic assessment!) despite a dip in greenhouse gas emissions due to the coronavirus pandemic.“
“A new report …found this year’s 7-percent fall in carbon pollution would have “negligible impact” on warming…”
The giant human footprint stamped across the world in 2020 is greater than the impact on the planet of all other living things, research suggests.“
“The amount of plastic alone is greater in mass than all land animals and marine creatures combined, the study estimates.”
You can read the previous ‘Climate’ thread here. I’ll be back over the weekend with an ‘Economic’ thread.
If you found value in this content, please help me continue this work by becoming a patron of my work via patreon.com.
So grateful for your posts. I do support you on Patreon.
At the most basic support level, but I have 4 children, 10 grandchildren and one great grandson. I am helping all of them.
So happy for your roundup of both climate and economy.
Trust you know about Guy McPherson, if not, check out his peer reviewed science, guymcpherson.com
We are in the 8th mass extinction event on planet Earth.
What a time to be a Homo Sapien.
Be well, Be peaceful and Happy Now
Rhonda, thank you so much for your kind words and support! Likewise sending you peace and happiness.
Found this today. Confirms what most people have known since the 1970’s, even if they cannot say exactly what they know to be true.
I am sorry that I cannot contribute to your work. I trust your work and search it every day, but on a pension that does not keep up with food price inflation, among many other expenses that surpass any gain I might get from the Canadian government.
Bruce, thank you for the heads-up and the kind words! Hope you are keeping your head above water. Best wishes, JP