Blogging the End of the World™
By Kathryn Hansen 3 July 2019 (NASA) – It is the “rain” in the term “rainforest” that makes possible the diverse ecosystem teeming with plants and animals. That doesn’t mean a rainforest is always wet: tropical rainforests are known for having distinct wet and dry seasons. But new research shows that the summer dry season in the […]
By Sudarshan Varadhan 2 July 2019 CHENNAI (Reuters) – In the small village of Bangarampettai, 20 miles from India’s manufacturing capital Chennai, about 150 people last month “captured” a water tanker, breaking its windscreen and deflating its tires before handing it over to a nearby police station. People living on the outskirts of this southern […]
2 July 2019 (BBC News) – A wildlife photographer has captured a picture of a black skimmer bird feeding its chick a cigarette filter on a beach in Florida, USA. In a Facebook post, Karen Mason said she had happened upon the pair on St Pete beach outside Tampa last month. She urged: “If you […]
4 July 2019 (Kyodo) – More than 1.09 million residents across two prefectures in Kyushu, including the entire populations of three cities in Kagoshima Prefecture, were ordered to evacuate as of 6 p.m. Wednesday, as continuing torrential rain raised the risk of floods and mudslides. The amount of rainfall Friday totaled 1,010.5 millimeters in Ebino, […]
25 June 2019 (UN News) – Climate change “threatens to undo the last 50 years” of development, global health and poverty reduction, a United Nations expert said on Tuesday, citing the risk of a new era of “climate apartheid” where the rich buy their way out of rising heat and hunger. “Even if current targets […]
By John Bacon 4 July 2019 (USA TODAY) – Alaska’s biggest city won’t be marking the nation’s 243rd birthday with fireworks displays as Anchorage struggles with dry conditions, wildfires and what could become the hottest day on record. The city’s all-time high temperature record of 85 degrees dates back 50 years. It could fall today, with a […]
By Conrad Duncan 2 July 2019 (The Independent) – Last month was the hottest June ever recorded, the EU’s satellite agency has announced. Data provided by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts on behalf of the EU, showed that the global-average temperature for June 2019 was […]
By Adrian Sainz 2 July 2019 RIPLEY, Tennessee (AP) – Wearing wading boots and a wide-brimmed hat, Derrick Currie casts his green fishing line into a pool of brown water along a rural Tennessee road. In a couple of minutes, he reels in his flapping bounty: A nice-sized catfish that he puts in a cooler […]
By Denitsa Tsekova and Brian K. Sullivan 1 July 2019 (Bloomberg) – After suffering through the wettest 12 months since at least 1895, U.S. farmers have plans to adapt next year to what some forecasters say may be an increasingly soggy new normal for the nation’s midsection. The plans include bigger and faster tractors to […]
By Nityanand Jayaraman 1 July 2019 (BBC News) – As I write this, it has rained in Chennai – the first real welcome shower, but one that lasted only 30 minutes. But, still, that has been enough to flood the streets and stall traffic. The irony is that Chennai’s vulnerability to floods and its water […]