flood – Page 7 – Desdemona Despair

Map showing population-weighted mean changes in extremely-high and very-high fire danger days in 2018-2021 compared with 2001-2004. Human exposure to days of very-high or extremely-high fire danger increased in 61% of countries from 2001-2004 to 2018-2021. Globally, people experienced an average of nine more days of very-high or extremely-high meteorological wildfire danger in 2018-2021 compared with 2001-2004, with 110 (61%) of 181 countries having an increase—a pattern caused by climate variation rather than demographic shifts. The yearly average wildfire exposure increased by 9.17 million person-days between 2003-2006 and 2018-2021. Increases were observed in 21 (64%) of 33 low HDI countries compared with 27 (42%) of 65 very high HDI countries, which could reflect differences in wildfire prevention and management. Graphic: Romanello, et al., 2022 / The Lancet

October 29, 2022

Over-dependence on fossil fuels risks the health of current and future generations – “Climate change is driving severe health impacts all around the world, while the persistent global fossil fuel dependence compounds these health harms amidst multiple global crises”

26 October 2022 (UCL) – The 2022 Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, published today, has found that ongoing crises, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, conflict in Ukraine, and a global energy and cost of living crisis, have caused countries to become over reliant on fossil fuels – compounding climate change and its […]

A child holds on to his belongings as families move to safer areas after flood water moved into their village houses in Naseerabad district, Balochistan province of Pakistan in September 2022. Photo: Sami Malik / UNICEF

October 29, 2022

Pakistan requires $16 billion to rebuild as damages due to deadly floods exceed $30 billion – Food crisis looms after farmland area larger than the Czech Republic flooded

By Anwesha Majumdar 29 October 2022 (Republic World) – In the aftermath of the devastating floods in Pakistan, more than 33 million people have been affected by the calamity, which has cost the nation over $30 billion in damages as the torrential rains destroyed bridges, crops, highways, and other infrastructure, killing more than 1,000 people. According to […]

Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) rescuers evacuate residents from their flooded homes due to a tropical storm, locally named Paeng, in Maguindanao province, Philippines, 28 October 2022. Photo: Philippine Coast Guard / AP News

October 28, 2022

At least 42 dead in floods, landslides in south Philippines – “In one area in Upi only the attic of a school can be seen above the floodwater”

COTABATO, Philippines, 28 October 2022 (AP) – Flash floods and landslides set off by torrential rains swamped a southern Philippine province, killing at least 42 people, leaving 16 others missing and trapping some residents on their roofs, officials said Friday. Most of the victims were swept away by rampaging floodwaters and drowned or were hit […]

A satellite image shows a flooded road in Brewarrina, Australia, 15 October 2022. Photo: Maxar Technologies / REUTERS

October 24, 2022

Australia flood crisis enters third week as heavy rains lash east – Sydney records wettest year since 1858 – “The damage is horrific and extensive”

By Lewis Jackson and Renju Jose; editing by Kenneth Maxwell 24 October 2022 SYDNEY (Reuters) – Already-flooded towns across Australia’s east were on high alert on Monday after a weekend of heavy rains, with authorities warning a wild weather system could persist until later this week and trigger renewed riverbank bursts. Thousands of homes and […]

Aerial view of flooding in South Sudan following fourth year of historic rainfall, 18 October 2022. Photo: UNHCR

October 23, 2022

Devastation in South Sudan following fourth consecutive year of historic floods – Two-thirds of country experiencing flooding – More than 900,000 people directly impacted

21 October 2022 (UNHCR) – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is urging international support for humanitarian efforts in South Sudan in the face of record-breaking rains and floods for a fourth consecutive year, and the threat of worse to come as the climate crisis accelerates. Two-thirds of the country is currently experiencing flooding. Over 900,000 […]

People walk on a street affected by the passing of Hurricane Fiona in Penuelas, Puerto Rico, 19 September 2022. Ricardo Arduengo / REUTERS

October 22, 2022

Five years after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico’s power grid is still costly and unreliable – Puerto Rico struggles to recover after Hurricane Fiona razed crops

By Fred Imbert 22 October 2022 (CNBC) – When Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico in September, Felipe Pérez was ready. Pérez, the owner of local sandwich shop chain El Meson, equipped his stand-alone locations with power generators and water tanks in the event of a prolonged outage like the one after Hurricane Maria, the devastating […]

Hubei’s Guanyin Pavilion during the July 2017 flood and the August 2022 drought. Photo: Getty Images

October 21, 2022

Climate change has come for the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter – “There is nothing in world climatic history which is even minimally comparable to what is happening in China”

By Muizz Akhtar 29 September 2022 (Vox) – China just finished one of its most disastrous summers on record, with record-breaking heat, drought, and wildfires leading to water shortages even into the fall. More than 900 million people — or about 64 percent of China’s population — faced brutal heat waves alone, highlighting how much further the nation has to […]

People walk through floodwaters after heavy rainfall in Hadeja, Nigeria, 19 September 2022. Officials in Nigeria say the death toll from this year's flooding has now risen to 603. Authorities have called the floods the country's worst in more than a decade, blaming the disaster on unusually heavy rainfall and the release of excess water from the Lagdo dam in neighboring Cameroon. Photo: AP Photo

October 21, 2022

Millions of people at risk in Nigeria after worst floods in a decade – More than 1.3 million displaced – Cholera outbreak sickens 6,000 – 100,000 hectares of farmland underwater – Rains to continue through November – “This is a catastrophe indeed. All of these wrong things are happening at the same time.”

21 October 2022 (UN News) – More than 2.8 million people have been impacted by Nigeria’s worst floods in a decade, with 1.3 million displaced and hundreds of lives lost, said the UN chief on Friday, expressing his sadness at the devastation. Infrastructure and farmland have also been damaged, said the statement issued on behalf […]

A couple stands on what was an ancient packhorse bridge exposed by low water levels at Baitings Reservoir in Yorkshire as record high temperatures hit Ripponden, England, 12 August 2022. Widespread drought that dried up large parts of Europe, the United States and China this past summer was made 20 times more likely by climate change, according to a new study. Photo: Jon Super / AP Photo

October 9, 2022

Climate change made 2022 summer drought 20 times more likely – “The impacts are very clear to people and are hitting hard, not just in poor countries, like the flooding Pakistan, but also in some of the richest parts of the world, like western central Europe”

By Drew Costley 5 October 2022 (AP) – Drought that stretched across three continents this summer — drying out large parts of Europe, the United States, and China — was made 20 times more likely by climate change, according to a new study. Drought dried up major rivers, destroyed crops, sparked wildfire, threatened aquatic species, […]

A boy stands beside a sugarcane field, which is submerged by floodwaters due to heavy monsoon rains, in Dera Allahyar area of Jaffarabad, a district of southwestern Baluchistan province, Pakistan, Saturday, 17 September 2022. Photo: Zahid Hussain / AP Photo

September 27, 2022

Fear of widespread hunger after Pakistan floods wreck crops – Dengue surges, hospitals overwhelmed by sheer number of patients – “These rains have destroyed everything for us. We don’t even have anything to eat.”

27 September 2022 (Grain Brokers Australia) – A food crisis of epic proportions is brewing in Pakistan due to torrential rains and catastrophic flooding in late August and early September. Less than 40 per cent of Pakistan’s land area is arable, yet around one-third of the country’s land mass was submerged, demonstrating the sheer scale […]