Europe – Page 23 – Desdemona Despair

Map showing Arctic temperature anomalies for December 2019, January 2020, and February 2020. Mainland Alaska and northwest Canada, along with parts of Greenland and Svalbard were the primary high latitude areas that were consistently colder than average during winter 2019/2020. Northern Eurasia was outlandishly mild. Graphic: Karsten Haustein / Twitter

March 2, 2020

Winter 2019/2020 warmest on record in Moscow, first winter to average above freezing – Temperature milestones set across Europe and North America – German ice wine harvest fails for first time on record

By Andrew Freedman 2 March 2020 (The Washington Post) – The meteorological winter of 2019-2020 shattered temperature records in Russia and France as well as other parts of Europe and the United States. In Moscow, this was the warmest winter in nearly 200 years of record-keeping, and the first winter there to have an average […]

Aerial view of flooding in Snaith, Yorkshire, UK, 1 March 2020. Video: Sky News

March 2, 2020

Wettest February on record in UK – 77 flood warnings issued with hours until water levels hit peak – 15 rivers hit their highest levels on record

By Kate Ng 2 March 2020 (The Independent) – Seventy-seven flood warnings remain in place across England and Wales as the UK prepares for river levels to peak in the aftermath of Storm Jorge. The Environment Agency (EA) has 74 flood warnings in place for England, with many concentrated in the southwest and along the […]

In Kastanies, Greece, with tear gas clouding the air, thousands of migrants trying to reach Europe clashed with riot police officers on the Greek border with Turkey on Saturday morning, 29 February 2020, signaling a new and potentially volatile phase in the migration crisis. About 4,000 migrants of various nationalities were pressed against the Turkish side of the border and an additional 500 or so people were trapped between two border posts, but still on the Turkish side. Photo: Bulent Kilic / Agence France-Presse / Getty Images

March 1, 2020

Thousands of migrants in Turkey face off with riot police at Greek border – President Erdogan says, “We opened the doors”

By Matina Stevis-Gridneff and Carlotta Gall 29 February 2020 KASTANIES, Greece (The New York Times) – With tear gas clouding the air, thousands of migrants trying to reach Europe clashed with riot police officers on the Greek border with Turkey on Saturday morning, signaling a new and potentially volatile phase in the migration crisis. The […]

A rainbow appears over flooded fields in the Wye Valley, near the hamlet of Wellesley, in Hereford, England following Storm Dennis on 17 February 2020. Storm Dennis is the second named storm to bring extreme weather in a week, following Storm Ciara. Photo: Christopher Furlong / Getty Images

February 26, 2020

“Immediate evacuation” ordered in English town as flood barriers overwhelmed – River Severn may surpass record level set in November 2000

26 February 2020 (Sky News) – An “immediate evacuation” has been ordered in a town in Shropshire after rising water levels from the River Severn breached flood barriers. West Mercia Police said it is “currently carrying out an immediate evacuation in Ironbridge due to the temporary barriers becoming overwhelmed”. Chief Superintendent Tom Harding said the […]

Naomi Seibt poses for a portrait near her home in Munster, Germany. Seibt, 19, uses YouTube to denounce “climate alarmism,” countering the arguments of young climate activist Greta Thunberg. Seibt uses her media platform to spread long-debunked arguments used by people who deny climate science. Photo: Sebastien Van Malleghem / The Washington Post

February 24, 2020

The anti-Greta: A conservative think tank sponsors teen who denies climate science – “It does bear resemblance to a model we use called the 4d’s: dismiss the message, distort the facts, distract the audience, and express dismay at the whole thing”

By Desmond Butler and Juliet Eilperin 24 February 2020 (The Washington Post) – For climate skeptics, it’s hard to compete with the youthful appeal of global phenomenon Greta Thunberg. But one U.S. think tank hopes it’s found an answer: the anti-Greta. Naomi Seibt is a 19-year-old German who, like Greta, is blond, eloquent and European. […]

Chairlifts are pictured over ski slopes closed due to lack of snow, at the ski resort of The Mourtis in Boutx, France, 10 February 2020. Photo: Regis Duvignau / REUTERS

February 22, 2020

The ski resort with no snow contemplates a warmer future – “If the snow is not there, we have to sell something else”

By Regis Duvignau and Antony Paone 12 February 2020 LE MOURTIS, France (Reuters) – This year’s winter in France has, so far, been the mildest in more than a century, and that has had a direct impact on the ski resort of Le Mourtis, in the Pyrenees mountains. “There’s no snow,” said French holidaymaker Frederic […]

A 929 millibar beast followed by another meteorological bomb as the pressure of Storm Dennis dropped to 920, one of the lowest on record in this part of the world, and then the two combined into a massive cyclone while doing a Fujiwhara dance, 16 February 2020. Video: Stu Ostro / The Weather Channel / Twitter

February 19, 2020

Two-fisted storm system pummels Iceland, British Isles – “This is not normal flooding, we are in uncharted territory”

By Bob Henson 17 February 2020 (Weather Underground) – A rapid-fire pair of winter storms swept across the North Atlantic from late last week into the weekend, bringing the most widespread flood alerts on record for the United Kingdom and one of the lowest surface pressures ever recorded in this part of the world. The […]

Flood water surrounds tomb stones at a graveyard in Tenbury Wells, after the River Teme burst its banks in western England, 16 February 2020. Photo: Oli Scarff

February 17, 2020

Storm Dennis, 2nd-strongest bomb cyclone on record in North Atlantic, wreaks havoc across UK, parts of France – Record 594 flood warnings and alerts issued in UK

17 February 2020 (AFP) – Britain on Monday began to clear up after Storm Dennis battered the country over the weekend, leading the government’s weather agency to issue a rare “danger to life” warning amid widespread flooding and high winds. Hundreds of flood warnings remained in place, including five “severe” warnings around the River Teme […]

Surface air temperature anomaly for January 2020 relative to the January average for the period 1981-2010. Data: ERA5. Graphic: Copernicus Climate Change Service / ECMWF

February 12, 2020

January 2020 warmest on record in Europe – Earth matched its warmest January on record – “The lack of snow and the warmth is really unheard of. Monthly records were not just broken, they were shattered with large margins.”

By Matthew Cappucci 4 February 2020 (The Washington Post) – Europe just concluded its warmest January on record, coming on the heels of a toasty December and making the 2019-2020 winter season a contender for the warmest Europe has observed. Although the calendar has flipped to a new decade, there has been no slowing in […]

Breakdown of total fossil fuel support in PIDG, 2002-2018, by sub-sector ($USD). Data: Source: Private Infrastructure Development Group Annual Report 2018. Graphic: Global Witness

February 6, 2020

Obscure investment fund uses UK aid money to finance fossil fuel projects – “A farcical situation where the Government, on one hand, spends aid money to mitigate climate change, and on the other hand finances fossil fuels all over the world”

6 February 2020 (Global Witness) – We are at the beginning of a year of climate spin by the British Government. This year, the UK will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow. While the Government claims to be a ‘climate leader’, we reveal how a little-known investment group funded by the […]