CLIMATE BREAKDOWN: FLOOD DROUGHT FLOOD

Global Warming is drying up the world’s rivers and lakes

The Earth’s waterways are shrinking and drying due in large part to global warming. While La Nina and human intervention also play a role, the over-riding factor is radicalized weather patterns driven by climate change. Extended drought in the American Southwest, Europe and China are affecting larger areas of agricultural output, threatening crops in millions of square miles of farmland.

Rhine River, Lake Mead, Euphrates River, Yangtze River, Lake Powell, Thames River, Poyang Lake, Po River, Danube River, Great Salt Lake, Lake Shasta, Colorado River, Waal River, Lake Oroville, Platte River.

Floods and mudslides displace millions \ $10s of billions damage

Pakistan, melting glacier outbursts are contributing to a historic inundation that has covered a third of the country.

The capital of Mississippi is without drinking water as the result of massive flooding and decades of shameful water management policies, a situation that may last weeks of months

Lethal floods in eastern Kentucky were exacerbated by global warming driven rainfall and environmental destruction of the hills from strip mining and logging.

Hundreds of thousands were evacuated during yet more unprecedented floods in southern China

Dallas: record floods hit drought stricken North Texas

Monday SEPTEMBER 19

PAKISTAN: SCALE OF DEVASTATION OFF THE CHARTS

The economic toll of this summer’s historic floods has passed $30 billion dollars and 33 million people are now refugees as about 1/3 of the country remains inundated. The event was driven in part by rapid glacier melting in the Himalayas. Monsoon flooding is normal in Pakistan – a nation about the size of Texas – but the scale of this devastation is unprecedented.
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Wednesday SEPTEMBER 14

CLIMATE REFUGEES RELOCATING AS GULF SWALLOWS LOUISIANA

Isle de Jean Charles, LA has lost 98% off its land as climate driven sea level rise eats away what’s left of the largely indigenous community. Located fewer than 100 miles southeast of New Orleans, the small island is increasingly isolated as the lone access road in inundated by Gulf waters. But this isn’t the tribe’s original home: they were forcefully relocated in 1830 so the white man could steal their land. Only 26 families remain our of the original 300. With a coastline severely compromised by oil and gas industry, the state is losing a football field’s worth of land every hour and a half.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 7

HIGH TEMPERATURE HITS 116°F IN SACRAMENTO 

For the fifth day running, an extended heat dome is bringing 110°F +  temps to a vast area of the western US, breaking high temperatures from Los Angeles to Utah. Wildfires are wiping out entire neighborhoods.

While those numbers are alarming enough, There are two other factors that make this event even more dangerous to humans:

  • Increasing global humidity intensifies danger to humans
  • Rising average overnight “low” temperatures

Increasingly, global warming is causing higher levels of humidity, which inhibits the body’s ability to cool itself. The high humidity blankets the earth’s surface, trapping heat and extending daytime heat levels into the overnight.

This is the second factor: nights are warming faster than the days, which prevents humans and the natural world in general from recovering the day’s highs.. Biologically speaking, overnight temperatures of 85% simply do not allow the human body to cool. When heat domes last for a week or longer, the effects of high lows and high humidity become cumulative, at some point triggering organ failure.

T

Global Warming is drying up the world’s rivers and lakes

The Earth’s waterways are shrinking and drying due in large part to global warming. While La Nina and human intervention also play a role, the over-riding factor is radicalized weather patterns driven by climate change. Extended drought in the American Southwest, Europe and China are affecting larger areas of agricultural output, threatening crops in millions of square miles of farmland.

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Among the most concerning is the longest river in the world, China’s Yangtze. An unprecedented drought has reduced the mighty river to a trickle in places, affecting hydropower, shipping routes, drinking water supplies, and even revealing previously submerged Buddhist statues.

ODER RIVER MASSIVE FISH KILL AS WATER LEVELS SINK

Tens of thousands of fish have been poisoned over the past few months, a catastrophe that appears to be a cascading disaster with no single explanation.

KEY WESTERN RESERVOIRS HITTING RECORD LOW LEVELS

Lake Powell, Lake Mead, Lake Oroville, Lake Shasta, and other critical fresh water reservoirs have either reached their lowest historical levels or are about to.

Lake Powell, which retains water from the Colorado River, is at its lowest level since it was filled in 1967 and is currently at just 26% of capacity.

Lake Mead is at its lowest level since the lake filled n the 1930s; levels are now at 1,069 feet, or 35 percent of capacity.

GREAT SALT LAKE SETS NEW LOW WATER LEVEL RECORD 

Utah’s Great Salt Lake is now % of modern levels. The depletion of the lake by mining and diversion has also contributed to this ongoing nightmare.

Mexican water shortage\

AT THE SAME TIME, COCA COLA AND OTHER BOTTLED WATER COMPANIES ARE PLUNDERING 50 BILLION GALLONS/YR FROM MEXICO’S PUBLIC AQUIFERS.

LINK TO STORY.

Two-thirds of Mexican municipalities are running out of drinking water, as tens of thousands of citizens stand in line for hours in the heat to wait for an allotment from sporadic government water trucks. The crisis is also fueling unrest, as thirsty people have taken to blocking highways and even kidnapping government workers.

In major urban areas such as Monterrey, the three reservoirs that deliver more than half of the water for 5 million people have been emptied. Some districts have gone 75 days without water, while others get only a few hours of water. This is not an isolated village in the desert. Monterrey is a wealthy metro area of 5 million people.

Roughly half of Mexico is now in drought, about double the area a year ago. Based on climate science reconstruction, this situation reflects the driest two decade period in 1,200 years.

The worsening water shortfall mirrors the extreme problems in the American Southwest, which is believed to be in a megadrought that may persist for hundreds of years. Key reservoirs such as Lake Mead, Lake Powell and Lake Shasta have fallen to critical levels, nearing dead pool status.

Around the planet, the climate emergency is triggering serious water shortages in England, France (worst on record), Chile, Morocco, South Africa, Italy, India, Netherlands, Spain, East Africa and China.

CLIMATE EMERGENCY UPDATES: AUGUST 2022

Dallas: Record Floods Follow Record Drought

Dallas and North Texas got hammered with about a summers’s worth of rainfall in one day, as up to 15 in of rain fell in 24 hours. 100s of people were rescued and one person was swept to their death. The event is an example of climate whiplash, a term for drought flood drought patterns increasingly seen around the planet.

China Bridge Collapses In 2 Month Heatwave

A two month long extended heatwave in China is wreaking major damage to infrastructure and agriculture. In central and southwest China, authorities are attempting cloud seeding in an effort to mitigate the lethal drought that has enveloped more than half of the country.

European Lakes & Rivers Drying Up In Drought

More than half of Europe is in the second year of an exceptional drought, as the Rhine, Po, Loire, Danube and Thames are at record low water levels. Agriculture and shipping are facing various levels of emergency.

Thames Source Running Dry

The upstream source of London’s River Thames has dried up and migrated downstream, after weeks of low rainfall and a record-breaking July heat wave.

Death Valley Flash Floods

Authorities describe ‘nearly an entire year’s worth of rain in one morning’ as deluge becomes second major flood at park this week.

New Heat Records In Maine

Temperatures soared across Maine on Sunday, setting records in Portland. which reached 96F. The reading broke the two most recent records, both set since 2000

More Devastation In Kentucky

Flash floods have killed at least 37 people in eastern Kentucky, with hundreds of homes and businesses wrecked by more climate driven extreme weather..

South Korea Also Gets Record Floods

Lethal flooding has also his Seoul, Korea following record downpours, resulting in at least ten dead, mass evacuations and flooded subway stations in the capital. 

Rhine River Levels Threaten Shipping

Drought and another record heat wave have resulted in rapidly dropping water levels on the critical Rhine River in Germany. 

JULY HEAT RECORDS:

  • 113°F Somerville, TX
  • 111°F College Station, TX
  • 109°F Waco, TX
  • 107°F Dallas, TX
  • 110°F Austin, TX
  • 107°F Pueblo, CO
  • 100°F Denver, CO
  • 111°F McCook, NB
  • 111°F Hill City, KS
  • 111°F Andalusia, Spain
  • 106°F Shanghai, China

 

 

“This has been the hottest weather I’ve ever seen. It’s pretty brutal out there.”

– Damon Slater, Parks & Rec Supervisor, Houston

TEXAS:

The historic heatwave continues in Texas and the Southern Plains continued this week and is expected to get worse. Houston, Harris County and the surrounding region have been suffering extreme heat since May, with the most recent resurgence reporting temperatures of 105°F in the city and 113°F inland on July 11. The humidity, as always, is suffocatin

There is nothing novel about miserable weather in Houston, save for the fact that each incidence of extreme weather is more violent and prolonged than the last. In the past few years, the city has been slammed with a succession of extreme rain, catastrophic floods, drought and heat waves.

It is doubtful that the members of the resource plundering industries have noted the irony of Houston suffering for its status as a major global fossil fuel industry hub. It’s almost as if the creator god…..never mind.

ALASKA

Out of control Alaskan fires force evacuation of mining camps, towns and parks

Over 500 fires have sent more than 3 millions acres up in flames since spring, with over 250 still burning. May and June were record breaking months for drought.

Drought, early snowfall melt, high winds and a significant increase in lightning strikes are the immediate causes, with global warming being the overarching driver. The lightning strikes are a result of steadily increasing water vapor in the atmosphere`, which generate more thunder storms which in turn are the result of higher temperatures in the region. Four days in July recorded 40,000 strikes, about two thirds of what would have been expected for a year in pre-climate crisis times. 

The warming climate is also increasing the amount of vegetation in the state, which means there is more fuel to burn.

The Arctic regions as a whole is warming about four times faster than the rest of the planet. 

EUROPE

Meanwhile in Europe, Spain, Italy, Portugal and the rest of the Western Mediterranean are experiencing an epic drought amidst epic heat. In the northern regions of Spain, where extreme heat is rare, temperatures soared to 108°F in places with 113°F reported near the Portugal border. An unprecedented 80% of mainland Portugal is under an “exceptional” risk of fire warning. 

Wildfires raged out of control in France, Croatia and Portugal in the second killer heatwave in two months. Thousands have been evacuated.

In France, fireworks displays honoring Bastille Day have been cancelled, with dangerous temperatures expected across France and up into the UK. In northern Italy, a chunk of the iconic Glacier broke away, killing 10 people. The Po River is running dry.

CHINA

China’s unrelenting heatwaves continue to scorch megacities in the populous Yangtze River basin. 84 cities across the country on Wednesday issued their highest-level red alert warnings, which means temperatures will exceed 104°F.. The crisis is an extension of a lethal one two flood drought flood pattern that has caused hundreds of deaths. 

 

SIMULTANEOUS HEAT WAVES: NO HISTORICAL PRECEDENT

June has been a month of record breaking heatwaves in the US, India, Pakistan, Europe and great swathes of Africa. As the month closes, China reports a double whammy of extreme climate events, with blistering heat in the northern and central provinces and devastating floods in the South.

In the flood zones, cars and houses are under water as hundreds of thousands have been evacuated. In the north highways are buckling from the extreme heat. You know the drill.

These concurrent disasters are consistent with statistical trends that show more or less indisputably that global warming is ramping up the intensity, the range and the frequency of extended droughts and floods.

Link to report

Again: no single extreme weather event can be blamed on global warming, but the past decade has boosted the probability beyond any reasonable doubt. If we define a heat wave as three days with high temps over 100°F, the number of days with one heat wave in the Northern Hemisphere doubled over forty years from 73 to 152 . The same study reported a SIX fold increase in frequency between 1979 and 2019. Peak intensities were estimated by about 17% greater.

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Global food supply – a warning

In addition to the fact that heat waves cause death and suffering, when planning your future it is useful to think about where your food will come from. As you may have noticed during the pandemic, any given consumable (or anything else) can disappear from shelves overnight. Pandemic, war or mass crop failure (or all of the above), the cause is irrelevant. We have seen how quickly human behavior deteriorates when toilet paper is hard to get or even (if you are of a certain age), when the Cabbage Patch doll supply runs out. Wait until there is no bread. (bread = wheat).

There is no one in charge. No one is going to save you but you. The fan blades are already turning and we have had more than adequate warning.

SUMMATION the Arctic is warming much faster than the lower latitudes, reducing the normal temperature differentials between the polar regions and the Northern Hemisphere. In the case of the current heatwave onslaught, the secondary cause – that is, in addition to high temperatures – is the disruption of those “normal” global circulation patterns, especially the Jet Stream. Weather in North America, Europe and Asia is interlinked.

 

San Francisco Will Close Coastal Highway…

Rapidly rising sea levels are driving San Francisco’s decision to close a mile of the Great Highway – its iconic coastal road – in a high profile move known these days as “managed retreat.” The asphalt sections that comprise the roadway have crumbled so many times due to extreme storms and rising tides that it has been deemed no longer possible to maintain the highway.

More threatening than the crumbling road itself is a 14-foot-wide major sewer pipe running under the roadway that carries wastewater to a nearby treatment facility. If this is not dealt with, it is only a matter of time before a major spill.

The ocean in this area is expected to rise 1 – 2 feet in the next three decades. The City is also planning projects to protect flood prone tech headquarters and the airport, which sticks out into the Bay like a sore thumb.

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…But Mexican Resort Region Not Quite Ready to Face the Inevitable

A thousand miles southeast, resorts on the Caribbean coast of Mexico face a similar existential challenge.  Rising sea levels and unprecedented storm events threaten Quintana Roo’s coastline, known for its white sand beaches. The 700-mile coast of Mexico’s Quintana Roo has been eroding at a rate of 4 ft a year, with up to 16 feet a year washing away in some sections. Beaches are disappearing, maintained artificially with sand dredged from the sea bottom and transported to the coast. As beaches disappear, the sea moves in to create scenes of waves breaking against the walls of swimming pools, restaurants and houses.

In addition to the ongoing erosion of the beaches, warming seas and changes to ocean chemistry are driving a mass incursion of nasty algal blooms. Ten ft high mounds of rotting black seaweed often greet tourists on the resort strip, an emperor’s new clothes scenario that few want to discuss…especially the corporate owners of new resort properties.

Many long time residents on the coast understand that the writing is on the wall, but, as is the case with climate emergency everywhere, most are holding on in the hope that the situation will reverse itself.

But it won’t.

In the meantime, hundreds of places around the planet have concluded that pulling back from the coast is far more sensible and realistic than attempting to fight the inevitable with extraordinarily expensive concrete and steel infrastructure projects that are ultimately doomed to failure.

 

As the futility of fighting sea level rise around the planet slowly begins to sink in, we are following high profile projects in Virginia, New York, Louisiana and the United Kingdom.

 

 

 

Tens of $ Billions Price Tag for Healthcare and Damage

Iraq Nearly Shut Down In May 2022

An increase in global warming driven sand storms in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia has closed airports, schools, and government offices and sent thousands to the hospital with respiratory issues.  The monster storms cover an area from Dubai to Damascus with biting sand particles swirling down from an apocalyptic orange sky. The region has been in a growing drought for more than a decade as hotter, drier conditions are forecast to continue and worsen.

As is the case with most climate driven events, the sand storm blitz is also exacerbated by other human activities especially unwise management of agriculture.

Just as droughts, violent storms and floods are not new, sand storms have long been a naturally occurring phenomenon in this part of the world. But the frequency and intensity are rising significantly, far outside any natural cycle.

The World Bank estimates health costs alone in excess of $13 billion, with hidden costs such as equipment failure an cleanup largely unaccounted for. Climate scientists call these storms unprecedented, with occurrences up to three times more frequent than long established averages. Officials predict that the current level of 272 “dust days” per year will increase to over 300 by mid- century.

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Record May Heatwave in Spain 107F (42C)

Much of southern and central Spain is experiencing record May temperatures as temperatures near 105°F. The region from Andalusia in the south, Extremadura in the south-west and Madrid, Castilla La Mancha and Aragon in the north-east. is 15 to 20° Fahrenheit above normal. In many places, overnight temperatures topped  77°F degrees Celsius (25C) which is practically unheard of in the peninsula in May. Across the Straits of Gibraltar, Morocco reports 117°F on May 21.

 

New Mexico’s Largest Wildfire in History Continues to burn

Some residents of northeastern New Mexico have not be able to return to their homes for weeks. Their lives are likely to be changed for the foreseeable future and may never return to normal. The Calf Canyon fire continues to grow and has torched 311,252 acres as of late May a month after it started. Thousands of people have been evacuated.

What Do You Mean We’re Out Of Mustard?

Another one of those goodies that are going to be hard to come by as warming temperatures are already causing problems with the harvest. Production for Dijon Mustard seed, one of France’s most iconic food products, is down 50% in both France and Canada, two key growing areas. Many supermarket shelves in France are empty shelves with global shortages predicted for later in the year. Prices are expected to increase 75%.  The Burgundy region is also experiencing trouble with grape production, also attributed to global warming-driven temperatures and extreme weather. 

Lake Mead and Lake Powell Hit Record Lows

The two largest sources of fresh water in the Southwest have hit new lows as authorities curtail releases from the Colorado River. It is going to be a tough summer in LA, Phoenix and Vegas. But then, it was all predictable, wasn’t it?

 

 Indian Wheat Harvest Threated By Simultaneous Heat (120F) and Flooding

While a huge swathe of India bakes under record-breaking heat, the vast country’s northeast is being devastated by floods. Beginning in March, torrential rains smashed into Assam and Arunachal Pradesh last week, triggering floods and mudslides that have washed away houses, fields of crops and bridges.

500,000 people have been displaced in the Northeast of the country with countless dead not yet reported. A statement from climate activist Licypriya Kangujam sums it up: “People don’t have drinking water, there’s limited food in stock, all forms of communications have been cut off and we don’t have any means of transportation as all the roads have been washed away by floods and landslides”

 

 

South Asia

 

Scientific American is using the term “ASTONISHING.”

India and Pakistan are projected as moving into hot future that may not allow human habitation.

NOW!!!

Wildfires: Human Tragedy in New Mexico and Arizona 

The town of Las Vegas, NM is the epicenter for a historic emergency. With nearly 200,000 acres torched, high winds and historic dry conditions make fire fighting extremely challenging. In Arizona, hundreds of people have been evacuated.

Raging fires in New Mexico prompt critical warnings - ABC News

According to some scientific reports, the forests may not grow back, certainly not as they were before in the Santa Fe National Forest. More here.

More on Arizona fire tragedies.

Sandstorms Smash Into Iraqi Cities

A man with respiratory problems is treated at a hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, during a dust storm (5 May 2022)

Seventh sandstorm in a month send thousands to hospitals.Dust storms are part of the landscape in this part of the world, but the frequency and severity is increasing steadily each year.  More here.

 

 

 

The body begins to cook itself at temperatures in this range

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Successive late April / early May heatwaves in northwestern of India and Pakistan are yet another history making extreme climate event, with some areas reaching122.5°F.

Both nations verified their highest average temperatures on record in the past week, with Delhi reaching 113°F; the previous month was the hottest March on record. In Pakistan’s Sindh province, Jacobabad hit 120°F on Saturday April 30 and Nawabshah hit 121°F the next day.

According to authorities, northwestern and central India are believed to have experienced their hottest April on record. The country as a whole saw its hottest March in 122 years of recorded history and its fourth-hottest April.

Along with the extended heat wave have come wildfires and devastating impact on  harvests as well as widespread power cuts. We are already seeing a serious impact on crops, including wheat, fruits and vegetables. Yields from wheat crops has dropped by up to 50% in some of the areas worst hit by the extreme temperatures. This situation may dovetail with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has already had a devastating impact on grain supplies.

In the  Mastung district, known for its apple and peach orchards, harvests have been wiped out.

In the mountainous region to the north, glacial ice and snow are melting so fast that increasingly common glacial lake outburst floods are feared.  In the cities and villages further south, kids are coming home from school with heat stroke.

According to Robert Rohde, lead scientist at climate nonprofit Berkeley Earth it’s not just about a few days of record breaking heat. “The significance of the current Indian/Pakistani heatwave is less about smashing records … and more about very long duration,” said Rohde. While this region is historically hot in late spring and summer, the current situation is occurring months earlier than normal, a trend that began a decade ago.

In this region and others (including the Middle East), we have reached the limits of what the human body can withstand.  When combined with humidity, these temps are within the range in which the human body begin to cook itself.

An ironic side effect (if your sense of irony hasn’t already been baked out) is that India’s demand for coal has spiked in response to demand for energy.

This particular extreme event does not “prove” the immediacy of the global warming emergency in and of itself. But in combination with all other events and trends happening as we speak, there is no other conclusion possible.  

 

Spring Global Warming Update

“I’m not ready for this. Not this early…”*

Louisiana: New Climate Refugees As Waters Close In

Only 15 miles south of New Orleans, the waters around Grand Island, Barataria,  Crown Pointe, and Jean Lafitte are continuing to rise, threatening long time residents of the bayou area.  About a football field worth of wetland disappears every two hours.

South Africa: Over 400 dead in “unprecedented” flooding:

Horrendous rains have brought lethal flooding and landslides that have displaced thousands the Durban, South Africa region. The humanitarian disaster, as always, is magnified by malfeasance on the part of the powers what is. More than a decade ago, poor families were relocated away from a new soccer stadium and dumped in a flood prone area, where they remain. Damages are currently estimated at $684 million and rising. The death toll will climb. 

Bering Sea: Warming Ocean Threatens Crab Fisheries

Add Alaskan snow crab to the growing list of marine animals  threatened by rapidly changing conditions on the ground, or, in this case, in the Bering Sea. Extreme ocean warming in the area around the Pribilof Islands  (between Siberia and Alaska) has crashed the population down nearly 90% from 2021 levels. Read the Article.

Siberia/Alaska: Methane / Permafrost Thaw Reshapes the Arctic

There is a lot of CH4 trapped beneath the surface of the planet, particularly under the permafrost in Siberia, Alaska and other Arctic regions. As the permafrost thaws, the gases trapped below it spew into the atmosphere, creating a climate feedback cycle with results that are observable in something close to real time. Visit the Page.

The Poles: Insane Temps At Both Poles

Late winter in the Arctic temperatures were about 70°F above the normal average at some measurement stations. Some near North Pole stations reported the beginning of melt. New heat records were also established in Antarctica with temperatures of over 50°F above the normal average in March. Visit the Page.

Great Barrier Reef: New Mass Bleaching Event

Another widespread die-off at the World Heritage site off the northern coast of Australia marks the sixth such catastrophe since 1998. This ongoing environmental disaster is driven by warming oceans and pollution. The most recent aerial survey shows almost no reefs across a 1,200km stretch unaffected by the elevated water temperatures.  See Australia’s New Normal video.

Great Salt Lake: Toxic Dust Events Loom In Utah

The inland sea that forms the iconic core of Utah’s Latter Day culture is in danger of disappearing as it reaches its lowest level. About half of the original lakebed area is now dry land  In the process, thousands of square miles of dry lake bed is exposed, laying open vast expanses of toxic dust.

India: Record Deadly Heat Begins The Year

Life-threatening heat waves are shattering temperature records, with highs reaching over 100°F. High temperatures are expected to climb to 10°F to 15°F above normal. 

Antarctica: Another Major Ice Shelf Collapse

East Antarctica’s Conger ice shelf – a floating platform the size of Rome – broke off the continent on March 15, 2022.

American West: Mega Drought Driving Water Emergencies

Lake Mead has dropped to an unprecedented low and other regional reservoirs have reached emergency levels as the western drought continues. Hydropower is likely to be curtailed and blackouts are expected. Read the Article.

Afghanistan: 5 Million Children At Risk of Starvation As Crops Fail In Historic Drought

Five million children near are starvation in Afghanistan amid the worst drought since records began. “When there is no rain the land is dry and we can’t grow anything … The drought has completely devastated our land.”

*Flagstaff, AZ resident watching her neighborhood go up in smoke, quoted April 21, 2022 in the New York Times.

Bordeaux: Wine Regions Scramble As Heat Threatens Grapes

Violent weather events—frost, hail, storms, rain at harvest, dry summers—have become more frequent. Slow to acknowledge the creeping disaster, French wine authorities have authorized planting of new varieties. 

Iceland: Land Mass Rising As Huge Glaciers Melt Away

Coastal water levels are dropping even as melting land glaciers dump tons of fresh water into the North Atlantic. As the immense weight of Iceland’s glacial ice mass disappears into the North Atlantic, the land beneath it is “bouncing back”, more or less springing up as the burden is removed. So seas seem to be dropping lower on the coasts of Iceland even though water level is relative to the land mass. Read the Article.

Australia: The Relentless Onslaught of the New Normal

The reality of calamitous sea level rise smashes into Sidney as tidal onslaught tears boats their moorings. Bondi and Clovelly beach clubs and hotels took a pounding from huge wind driven swells. The second major cleanup follows a major flooding event only three weeks ago.  It’s all part of Australia’s New Normal (see our video). 

Syria: Lethal Drought Continues Into Third Decade

The root cause of the so war in Syria was an unrelenting drought that brought farmers to their knees. It moves into its third decade as the worst in the Middle East for at least 1,000 years. Conditions have worsened in the past two years: Herds have been culled and crops are generally devastated. The iconic Khabur river is at record lows.. 

Argentina: Wildfires & Serial Heat Waves

After a scorching heatwave, Argentina is suffering another round  of raging wildfires that torched forests and farms across its northern regionAuthorities estimate early losses at a quarter billion dollars with 2 million acres torched. The region has been experiencing record heat this year, baking in unprecedented temperatures up to 113°F.

Kenya: Water Shortages, Dead Livestock and Ruined Harvests as Desertification Moves In

Kenya and the Horn of Africa are in the third year of failed rainy seasons as the desert takes back the land. 5.5 million children in the region are threatened by acute malnutrition. Millions of head of livestock have died of malnutrition and in Kenya, Forecasts indicate that below average rainfall will continue into the foreseeable future.

Brazil: Mass Rainforest Ecocide

The far right Brazilian administration has accelerated the plundering of indigenous lands; what environmental regulations remain are essentially gone. Many scientists now believe the critical forest carbon sink has crossed the final tipping point in terms of climate effects. When forests are cleared, another climate feedback cycle is triggered. 

Sahel: Sahara Moving South To Claim Central Africa

Life-threatening heat waves are shattering temperature records, with highs reaching over 100°F. High temperatures are expected to climb to 10°F to 15°F above normal. 

Indonesia: Papua’s Last Glacier Almost Gone

Little remains of the ironically named Eternity Glacier in Papua’s Jayawijaya mountains. The once might ice formation is expected to be gone by 2025.

Gulf Stream: AMOC continues to slow

The Gulf Stream carries warmer waters north, where they serve to moderate the climate of northern Europe. Look at the latitude of Western Europe and you will see how far north the nations that invaded North America are located compared to the US east coast. The global ocean current is driven by salinity changes in the northern sea, which causes surface waters to change density and sink (that’s basically how it works). When this mechanical process is disrupted, weather becomes unpredictable and extreme, extended events more common.

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