Tag: Wildfires New Mexico

Climate Shocks From Spain to New Mexico

Posted on by rapidclimatechange_tfkjps

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”

 

 

How Long Will South Asia Be Livable?

Posted on by rapidclimatechange_tfkjps

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.