technogenic disaster – Page 64

Russia tree cover loss, 2001-2021. The rate of loss in in boreal forests reached unprecedented levels in 2021, increasing by 29 percent over 2020. An unprecedented fire season in Russia drove much of this increase. Russia experienced the worst fire season since record-keeping began in 2001, with more than 6.5 million hectares of tree cover loss in 2021. While fires are a natural part of boreal forest ecosystems, larger, more intense fires are worrying. Hotter, drier weather related to climate change has led to fire-prone conditions, drier peatlands and melted permafrost. Siberia’s vast peatland area — the largest in the world — stores massive amounts of carbon, which is released into the atmosphere when peat dries up. Melting permafrost also releases stored carbon and methane. These conditions may represent a new normal, impacting people living in Siberia and creating a feedback loop in which increasing fires and carbon emissions reinforce each other and lead to worsening conditions. Graphic: WRI

May 8, 2022

Vast forest losses in 2021 imperil global climate targets, report says – “We’re seeing fires burning more frequently, more intensively and more broadly than they ever would under normal conditions”

By Jake Spring 28 April 2022 SAO PAULO, April 28 (Reuters) – The world lost an area of forest the size of the U.S. state of Wyoming last year, as wildfires in Russia set all-time records and Brazilian deforestation of the Amazon remains high, a global forest monitoring project report said on Thursday. Global Forest Watch, which […]

People sleep on the dried-up Yamuna riverbed under a bridge during a heatwave in New Delhi, India, 2 May 2022. Photo: Adnan Abidi / REUTERS

May 7, 2022

Extreme heat in India threatens nation’s electrical system as coal supply runs out – India to reopen more than 100 coal mines – “Excessive demand has caused power outages of up to 16 hours in a single day in certain areas of the country”

6 May 2022 (El Pais) – The ongoing extreme heat that India has been facing for weeks has pushed an important part of its population to the limit of survival while risking their electrical system, which still relies almost 70% on coal. During March and April of 2022, the country registered its highest average maximum […]

Global distribution of estimated excess mortality rate due to the COVID-19 pandemic, for the cumulative period 2020–21. Although reported COVID-19 deaths between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2021 totaled 5.94 million worldwide, IHME estimates that 18.2 million (95 percent uncertainty interval 17.1–19.6) people died worldwide because of the COVID-19 pandemic over that period, as measured by excess mortality. Graphic: Wang, et al., 2022 / The Lancet

May 7, 2022

WHO estimates nearly 15 million deaths associated with COVID-19, more than double the official toll – “When you have a massive outbreak where people are dying in the streets because of a lack of oxygen, we end up never knowing just how many people died”

By Maria Cheng 5 May 2022 LONDON (AP) – The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 15 million people were killed either by coronavirus or by its impact on overwhelmed health systems during the first two years of the pandemic, more than double the current official death toll of over 6 million. Most of the […]

Global quantities of amphetamine-type stimulants seized, 2009-2019. Data: Responses to the annual report questionnaire (UNODC, 2021). Graphic: EMCDDA

May 7, 2022

Europe turns into cocaine hub as multi-billion-euro market expands, EU says

By Francesco Guarascio 6 May 2022 BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe is increasingly becoming a hub for production and trans-shipment of cocaine to other regions of the world, in addition to being a major consumption market, EU agencies said on Friday, warning also about the expanding methamphetamine industry. After cannabis, cocaine is the most consumed drug […]

Drought has reduced the water level in Lake Mead so much that Southern Nevada Water Authority's original water intake valve in Lake Mead -- in service since 1971 -- was visible above the water line in April 2022. The original intake is no longer in use since it cannot draw water. Photo: Southern Nevada Water Authority

May 7, 2022

Lake Mead plummets to record low, exposing original 1971 water intake valve – Dead man found in barrel at lake bottom, authorities say more bodies likely to turn up – “This is a crisis. This is unprecedented.”

By Stephanie Elam 29 April 2022 (CNN) – The U.S. West is in the grips of a climate change-fueled megadrought, and Lake Mead — the largest manmade reservoir in the country and a source of water for millions of people — has fallen to an unprecedented low. The lake’s plummeting water level has exposed one of the reservoir’s original water […]

Climate change impacts on poverty by 2030 in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Additional people living in extreme poverty as a percent of the total population, by country (left); additional people living in extreme poverty, by country (right). Climate change could drive millions of people in LAC back into extreme poverty. Graphic: World Bank

May 7, 2022

Climate disasters in Latin America threaten to drive six million into poverty in next decade

By David Callaway 26 April 2022 MANAGUA, Nicaragua (Callaway Climate Insights) – As Latin America prepares for another disastrous hurricane season, two major intergovernmental reports are pointing to the need for urgency in reversing years of climate-related disasters that have driven more people into poverty. A report by the World Bank this month said over the past […]

European surface air temperature anomalies for summer (JJA) 1950–2021, relative to the average for the 1991–2020 reference period. In 2021, summer temperatures were about 1 degree Celsius above the average over the past three decades, with Italy even recording temperatures of 48.8C – a provisional record for the whole of Europe. Data source: ERA5, E-OBS. Credit: C3S / ECMWF / KNMI

May 7, 2022

Europe suffered year of climate chaos in 2021 with hottest summer on record – “We are facing a lot of challenges”

By Gloria Dickie and Kate Abnett 22 April 2022 (Reuters) – Europeans endured the hottest summer on record last year, with wildfires, floods and intense heatwaves hitting the continent, according to a report by EU scientists released Friday. Summer temperatures were about 1 degree Celsius above the average over the past three decades, with Italy even recording […]

Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in Africa in 2019 (left), and top eight wheat importers in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2020 (right). Challenges for food security in Sub-Saharan Africa will increase as Russia’s war on Ukraine persists. Graphic: IMF

May 7, 2022

Russia’s war on Ukraine dims global economic outlook as inflation accelerates – Africa faces new shock as war raises food and fuel costs – “This crisis unfolds even as the global economy has not yet fully recovered from the pandemic”

By Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas 19 April 2022 (IMF) – Global economic prospects have been severely set back, largely because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This crisis unfolds even as the global economy has not yet fully recovered from the pandemic. Even before the war, inflation in many countries had been rising due to supply-demand imbalances and […]

Coastal flooding at the historic site at Jamestown, Virginia in 2009. Three feet of water accumulated after a storm. Such events now occur several times a year, and the site is often closed for safety reasons. Photo: Michael Lavin / Jamestown Rediscovery

May 7, 2022

Jamestown: America’s first English settlement now endangered by rising sea level – “There is basically a five-year window at Jamestown”

By Jane O’Brien 4 May 2022 JAMESTOWN, Virginia (BBC News) – One of the most important historic sites in America has been put on a list of endangered places. Preservation groups warn that Jamestown, Virginia, may not survive another generation because of climate change. In 1607, the small island near the mouth of the Chesapeake […]

Prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents aged 5–19 years in the WHO European Region, by sex, 1975–2016. Graphic: WHO

May 5, 2022

World Health Organization warns of obesity epidemic in Europe – “Overweight and obesity rates have reached epidemic proportions across the region and are still escalating”

3 May 2022 (AFP) – The WHO said Tuesday that “epidemic” overweight and obesity rates are linked to over 1.2 million deaths annually across Europe, calling for swift policy changes to reverse the dangerous trend. Obesity rates in the region have ballooned by 138 percent in the past five decades, the World Health Organization said […]

Desdemona Despair

Category: technogenic disaster

Vast forest losses in 2021 imperil global climate targets, report says – “We’re seeing fires burning more frequently, more intensively and more broadly than they ever would under normal conditions”

Extreme heat in India threatens nation’s electrical system as coal supply runs out – India to reopen more than 100 coal mines – “Excessive demand has caused power outages of up to 16 hours in a single day in certain areas of the country”

WHO estimates nearly 15 million deaths associated with COVID-19, more than double the official toll – “When you have a massive outbreak where people are dying in the streets because of a lack of oxygen, we end up never knowing just how many people died”

Europe turns into cocaine hub as multi-billion-euro market expands, EU says

Lake Mead plummets to record low, exposing original 1971 water intake valve – Dead man found in barrel at lake bottom, authorities say more bodies likely to turn up – “This is a crisis. This is unprecedented.”

Climate disasters in Latin America threaten to drive six million into poverty in next decade

Europe suffered year of climate chaos in 2021 with hottest summer on record – “We are facing a lot of challenges”

Russia’s war on Ukraine dims global economic outlook as inflation accelerates – Africa faces new shock as war raises food and fuel costs – “This crisis unfolds even as the global economy has not yet fully recovered from the pandemic”

Jamestown: America’s first English settlement now endangered by rising sea level – “There is basically a five-year window at Jamestown”

World Health Organization warns of obesity epidemic in Europe – “Overweight and obesity rates have reached epidemic proportions across the region and are still escalating”