heat wave – Page 7 – Desdemona Despair

Rough rice prices from the Chicago Board of Trade, 19 April 2018 - 19 April 2023. Graphic: CNBC

April 19, 2023

Global rice shortage in 2023 is set to be the biggest in 20 years – “At the global level, the most evident impact of the global rice deficit has been, and still is, decade-high rice prices”

By Lee Ying Shan 18 April 2023 (CNBC) – From China to the U.S. to the European Union, rice production is falling and driving up prices for more than 3.5 billion people across the globe, particularly in Asia-Pacific – which consumes 90% of the world’s rice. The global rice market is set to log its largest […]

The European model shows temperatures across Southeast Asia rising well above normal on Monday, 17 April 2023. Numerous heat records were broken across Southeast Asia, China and other parts of the continent in mid-April, with Thailand in particular experiencing unusually extreme conditions. Weather historian Maximiliano Herrera described it as the “worst April heat wave in Asian history.” Graphic: WeatherBell.com

April 18, 2023

Historic Asia heat breaks hundreds of records, with extremes in Thailand and China – Thailand recorded its all-time hottest temperature – “Worst April heat wave in Asian history”

By Dan Stillman 17 April 2023 (The Washington Post) – Numerous heat records have been broken across Southeast Asia, China and other parts of the continent in recent days as the region remains in the grip of a dangerously scorching heat wave, with Thailand in particular experiencing unusually extreme conditions. Weather historian Maximiliano Herrera is describing […]

Map showing the physical imprint and consequences of extreme summer heat across the Pacific Northwest in 2021. The June-August (JJA) 2021 seasonally averaged temperature anomalies (t2m) over North America calculated from the 1951-1980 mean of ERA5 Reanalysis, with the Pacific Northwest region (PNW; 42–53 °N, 124–115 °W, dark blue box) highlighted. The year 2021 (dashed black line) is shown relative to the distribution (black line) and probability density (red line) curves of JJA t2m values over the period 1950–2021 for the PNW region. White exes indicate the locations of all tree-ring chronology predictors used in the subsequent JJA t2m reconstruction. Graphic: Heeter, et al., 2023 / npj Climate and Atmospheric Science

April 16, 2023

The summer of 2021 was the Pacific Northwest’s hottest in a millennium – “The tree scorch was shocking. The average summer temperatures were extraordinarily away from the norm.”

By Sid Perkins 14 April 2023 (Science News) – A two-week-long heat wave in the Pacific Northwest in 2021 helped make that summer a record breaker for the region (SN: 7/7/21). Now, tree ring data from the area’s forests reveal that the summer of 2021 was also the region’s hottest of the last millennium. The average temperature […]

World map showing sea surface temperatures as of 14 April 2023, with warm colors indicating higher temperatures. Ocean surface temperatures hit an all-time high in April 2023, breaking every record since satellite measurements began in the 1980s. Graphic: ClimateReanalyzer.org

April 15, 2023

The surface of the ocean is now so hot it’s broken every record since satellite measurements began

By Stephanie Pappas 14 April 2023 (Live Science) – Ocean surface temperatures have hit an all-time high this month, breaking every record since satellite measurements began in the 1980s. Temperatures reached a global average of 69.98 Fahrenheit (21.1 degrees Celsius) in the first days of April. The previous record of 69.9 F (21 degrees C) […]

Map showing natural catastrophe loss events in 2022. Natural catastrophes caused overall losses of US$270 billion worldwide. Data: Munich Re, NatCatSERVICE, 2023. Graphic: Munich Re

January 31, 2023

Munich Re: Climate change and La Niña driving losses – “Climate change is taking an increasing toll. The natural disaster figures for 2022 are dominated by events that, according to the latest research findings, are more intense or are occurring more frequently.”

10 January 2023 (Munich Re) – With overall losses of around US$ 270bn (previous year US$ 320bn) and insured losses of roughly US$ 120bn (previous year US$ 120bn), 2022 joins the recent run of years with high losses. Overall losses were close to the average for the last five years, while insured losses were significantly […]

Map showing significant economic loss events in 2022. Direct economic losses resulting from natural disasters in 2022 are estimated at $313 billion. This is close to the 21st century average, after adjusting actual incurred damage to today’s dollars using the U.S. Consumer Price Index. Though 2022 was far from record-breaking in terms of overall losses, it saw many impactful and costly events across the globe. Visualizing the geographic distribution of 2022 events allows for distinguishing certain patterns, including higher frequency of medium-sized Severe Convective Storm (SCS) events in the U.S. and Europe, and the prevalence of flooding events in Africa, Southeast Asia and Oceania. The map primarily shows the economic impact, which to some extent correlates with concentration of wealth — this is not a result of a reporting bias. What this map does not highlight is the humanitarian crises and displaced communities, as many events with significant human impacts do not necessarily translate into a high financial toll in terms of direct damage. Note that significant price inflation throughout the year already resulted in notable increases of per-event losses. Graphic: Aon

January 25, 2023

Aon: Global insured losses from natural disasters exceeded $130 billion In 2022, driven by second-costliest event on record – More than 19,000 heat-related deaths in Europe

CHICAGO, 25 January 2023 (PRNewswire) – Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm, today published its 2023 Weather, Climate and Catastrophe Insight report, which identifies global natural disaster and climate trends to help make better decisions to manage volatility and enhance global resilience. The report reveals that natural disasters caused a $313 billion global economic loss […]

U.S. billion-dollar climate disaster events, 1980-2022. Storms, floods, wildfires and droughts caused a total of $165 billion in damages in the US last year, $10 billion more than the 2021 total and the third most costly year since records of major losses began in 1980, according to new US government data. With 18 disasters costing at least $1 billion in damages, 2022 was only marginally behind 2020 and 2021 in terms of the number of severe events. A total of 474 people died last year from these major calamities. Graphic: NCEI / NOAA

January 10, 2023

Extreme weather left 474 people dead and cost $165 billion in the U.S. in 2022 – “It does not seem likely that these trends will reverse. Perhaps we need to be more prepared for a future that has rapidly become our present.”

By Oliver Milman 10 January 2023 (The Guardian) – The US endured a particularly painful year as communities wrestled with the growing impacts of the climate crisis, with 18 major disasters wreaking havoc across the country as planet-heating emissions continued to climb. Storms, floods, wildfires and droughts caused a total of $165 billion in damages […]

Global average surface temperature compared to a preindustrial baseline, 1940-2022. Data: Copernicus / ECMWF. Graphic: The New York Times

January 10, 2023

The last 8 years were the hottest on record – “The rare event now would be to see a really cold year”

By Henry Fountain and Mira Rojanasakul 10 January 2023 (The New York Times) – The world remained firmly in warming’s grip last year, with extreme summer temperatures in Europe, China, and elsewhere contributing to 2022 being the fifth-hottest year on record, European climate researchers said on Tuesday. The eight warmest years on record have now […]

Cyrille Honoré, head of the WMO Disaster Risk Reduction and Public Services Branch. Photo: Stanley Honoré

January 9, 2023

“Brutal” temperature changes are the new normal, says UN meteorological agency – Interview with Cyrille Honoré

6 January 2023 (UN News) – The rapid 10-degree Celsius rise in temperature across large parts of Europe before Christmas was “brutal” but it could be the shape of things to come, the UN Meteorological Organization WMO, said on Friday. In an interview with UN News’s Daniel Johnson, Cyrille Honoré, head of the UN agency’s […]

Surface temperatures anomalies in Europe, 31 December 2022 - 2 January 2023. Temperatures are in degrees Celsius. On New Year’s Day, at least seven countries saw their warmest January weather on record as temperatures surged to springtime levels: Latvia hit 52 degrees (11.1 Celsius); Denmark 54.7 degrees (12.6 Celsius); Lithuania 58.3 degrees (14.6 Celsius); Belarus 61.5 degrees (16.4 Celsius); the Netherlands 62.4 degrees (16.9 Celsius); Poland 66.2 degrees (19.0 Celsius); and the Czech Republic 67.3 degrees (19.6 Celsius). Graphic: Weatherbell.com

January 2, 2023

Thousands of records shattered in historic winter warm spell in Europe – At least seven countries saw warmest January weather on record on New Year’s Day – “It’s the most extreme event ever seen in European climatology. Nothing stands close to this.”

By Ian Livingston 2 January 2023 (The Washington Post) – As 2022 turned to 2023, an exceptionally strong wintertime heat dome pounced on much of Europe, producing unprecedented warmth for January. As temperatures soared 18 to 36 degrees Fahrenheit (10 to 20 Celsius) above normal from France to western Russia, thousands of records were broken […]