Cyclone duo hits Middle East – Severe Tropical Storm Mekunu to hit Oman, may become Oman’s strongest storm on record

25 May 2018 (NOAA) – The NOAA-20 satellite captured this image of severe tropical cyclone Mekunu nearing the southern Arabian Peninsula on 24 May 2018. The dangerous Category 3 storm rapidly intensified in the warm waters of the Arabian Sea and had sustained winds of 115 mph, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center reported in its […]

Kenyan rose-farm dam bursts after weeks of torrential rain – “Sea of water” kills at least 47

By Thomas Mukoya, George Obulutsa, Duncan Miriri, Humphrey Malalo, and Maggie Fick; Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Andrew Heavens 10 May 2018 SOLAI, Kenya (Reuters) – A dam on a commercial flower farm in Kenya’s Rift Valley burst after weeks of torrential rain, unleashing a “sea of water” that careened down […]

Climate change making California’s drought-flood cycle more volatile – “These are actually huge changes occurring – they’re just on opposite ends of the spectrum”

By David Colgan 23 April 2018 (UCLA) – California is headed for a future of precipitation extremes.Research by UCLA climate scientists, published today in Nature Climate Change, projects that the state will experience a much greater number of extremely wet and extremely dry weather seasons — especially wet — by the end of the century. […]

Droughts mean fewer flowers for bees – “With climate change, such droughts are expected to become much more common”

12 April 2018 (University of Exeter) – Bees could be at risk from climate change because more frequent droughts could cause plants to produce fewer flowers, new research shows. Droughts are expected to become more common and more intense in many parts of the world, and researchers studied the impact on flowering plants using a […]

Dry, the Beloved Country: A dispatch from Cape Town – “Dust is everywhere now”

By Eve Fairbanks 19 April 2018 (Highline) – When I moved to South Africa nine years ago, one of the first things some locals told me was to be careful using GPS. The country had rules of navigation, they told me, but ones more complicated and intuitive than a computer could manage. You could drive […]

Most expensive weather disaster of 2018: a $3.9 billion drought in Argentina and Uruguay

Dr. Jeff Masters 30 March 2018 (Weather Underground) – A severe lack of rainfall during over southern South America during the summer of 2017 – 2018 has led to the worst drought in decades over portions of Argentina and Uruguay. According to insurance broker Aon Benfield, total losses are near $3.9 billion, making the drought […]

World water problems on tap at Brazil conference – “Countermeasures to protect supplies remain very slim compared to the impacts we’re seeing”

BRASILIA, 18 March 2018 (AFP) – Brazil, the country with the world’s greatest fresh water reserves, hosts an international conference next week on growing fears over the fragility of drinking water supplies in a heating planet. Under the slogan “sharing water,” the 8th World Water Forum will bring together 15 heads of state and government, […]

The people of Cape Town are running out of water — and they’re not alone

By Amal Ahmed 17 March 2018 (Popular Science) – Day Zero: that’s the ominous label officials in Cape Town have bestowed on the day that water will run out. A three year drought in the region drained reservoirs faster than expected. They were full at the start of 2014, but estimates from the end of […]

Hunger rates remain high amid conflict, climate shocks, warns UN food security report

5 March 2018 (UN) – Increased hunger and food insecurity, fuelled by conflict and climatic challenges, continues to inflict suffering on populations in different parts of the world, forcing them to remain dependent on humanitarian assistance, a new United Nations report has warned.According to the Crop Prospects and Food Situation report, issued Monday by the […]

How human coping mechanisms for global warming are impacting endangered animals

By Jennifer Fabiano 21 February 2018 (AccuWeather) – While most are familiar with the impact of climate change and rising temperatures on animals such as polar bears, few are aware of one of the biggest threats to endangered animals: the climate change coping mechanisms initiated by humans. A serious, mostly unknown impact of climate change […]

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