Georgia awaits ‘crippling’ ice storm ‘of historical proportions’

By Matt Pearce11 February 2014 (Los Angeles Times) – President Obama declared a state of emergency in Georgia on Tuesday as the southern state awaited what the National Weather Service called a potentially “crippling” ice and snow storm “of historical proportions.” The roads in Atlanta, usually clogged with traffic, were unusually quiet at midday Tuesday […]

Record Brazil heat pressures crops, energy prices – Northeast is in worst drought in at least 50 years, hundreds of thousands of cattle have died

1 February 2014 (World Bulletin) – Even by Brazilian standards – man, it’s hot. January was the hottest month on record in parts of Brazil including its biggest city, São Paulo. The heat, plus a severe drought, has kindled fears of water shortages, crop damage and higher electricity bills that could drag down the economy […]

UK floods could last months, scientist warns – 1.6 million properties across Britain at risk of groundwater flooding

By Thomas Moore, Science Correspondent 11 February 2014 (Sky News ) – Scientists have told Sky News that groundwater levels are now so high that parts of Britain face a serious risk of flooding for weeks or even months to come. Andy McKenzie, a groundwater scientist at the British Geological Survey, told Sky News that […]

Why global water shortages pose threat of terror and war – ‘Groundwater depletion is happening at a very rapid rate in almost all of the major aquifers in the arid and semi-arid parts of the world’

By Suzanne Goldenberg    8 February 2014 (The Observer) – On 17 January 2014, scientists downloaded fresh data from a pair of NASA satellites and distributed the findings among the small group of researchers who track the world’s water reserves. At the University of California, Irvine, hydrologist James Famiglietti looked over the data from the gravity-sensing […]

Homes evacuated as swollen Thames keeps rising – UK Environment Agency has never issued so many severe flood warnings – Many areas have seen more than double their average rainfall

10 February 2014 (BBC News) – Flooded homes along the River Thames are being evacuated and thousands more are at risk, with water levels expected to keep rising for the next 24 hours. Residents in one Berkshire village say the scenes are from a “horror movie”. Fourteen severe flood warnings are in place in Berkshire […]

UK faces another week of storms after wettest January since 1766

9 February 2014 (theguardian.com) – Forecasters have warned of another week of storms as the prime minister prepares to lead the latest emergency meeting about the flooding crisis. Heavy rain and winds of more than 60mph are predicted to die down throughout Sunday but the brief respite will be broken by another storm arriving Monday […]

Waves lash South Coast of Britain as storm hits – Coastguard warns of ‘phenomenal’ 14-metre waves as 80 mph winds hit the coastline

8 February 2014 (Sky News) – Southern Britain is on alert as hurricane-force winds and heavy rain combine with high tides to threaten more flooding misery. South Wales and the South West were the first areas to be hit by the storm which is set to move over the rest of southern England throughout the […]

Graph of the Day: Temperature anomaly for Africa, 2001-2010

Contact: Karolin Eichler (WMO/OBS/WIS/DMA) Features of the decade – temperature The decade 2001-2010 was characterized by a record in global temperature increase since sufficiently comprehensive global surface temperature measurement began in 1850 For global land-surface air temperatures as well as for ocean-surface temperatures this decade was the warmest on record This trend is confirmed at […]

WMO: 2013 among top ten warmest years on record – ‘Our action – or inaction – to curb emissions of carbon dioxide will shape the state of our planet for our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren’

Contact: Clare Nullis, Media Officer, Communications and Public Affairs, Tel: +(41 22) 730 8478; (41-79) 7091397, email: cnullis at wmo.int5 February 2014 Geneva (WMO) –The year 2013 was among the top ten warmest years since modern records began in 1850, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). It tied with 2007 as the sixth warmest […]

Video: California farms going thirsty

30 January 2014 (NBC News) – Andy Domenigoni, a fourth generation vegetable farmer in Riverside California, is feeling the pain from the state’s drought. It has been so dry there for so long that officials have declared what’s called an “exceptional drought.” California Farms Going Thirsty Technorati Tags: California,North America,drought,global warming,climate change,crop failure,agriculture

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