Worldwide natural catastrophe loss events in 2019. Tropical cyclones, extreme storms, and floods caused overall losses of $150 billion. Video: Munich RE

Tropical cyclones causing billions in losses dominated the natural catastrophe picture of 2019 – “Cyclones are becoming more frequently associated with extreme precipitation”

8 January 2020 (Munich RE) – 820 natural catastrophes caused overall losses of US$ 150bn, which is broadly in line with the inflation-adjusted average of the past 30 years. A smaller portion of losses was insured compared with 2018: about US$ 52bn. This was due, among other things, to the high share of flood losses, which are […]

Map showing average surface sea temperature in the Sea of Okhotsk, compared with the late 1800s. Data: Berkeley Earth. Graphic: John Muyskens / The Washington Post

The climate chain reaction that threatens the heart of the Pacific – “When are the fish coming?”

By Simon Denyer and Chris Mooney 12 November 2019 SHIRETOKO PENINSULA, Japan (The Washington Post) – Lined up along the side of their boat, the fishermen hauled a huge, heavy net up from swelling waves. At first, a few small jellyfish emerged, then a piece of plastic. Then net, and more net. Finally, all the […]

Satellite view of Super Typhoon Hagibis as a Category 5-equivalent storm on 7 October 2019. Photo: NOAA / RAMMB

Deadly Typhoon Hagibis packed devastating punch in Japan with record rainfall totals – 2,667 bags of Fukushima waste leaked

By Andrew Freedman 14 October 2019 (The Washington Post) – Typhoon Hagibis proved to be extraordinarily devastating for northern Japan when it struck this weekend, unleashing more than three feet of rain in just 24 hours in some locations, causing widespread flash flooding as well as river flooding. The storm has killed at least 58, according […]

Global fisheries subsidy amounts by category and grouped by a) low and high HDI country groups; and b) developed and developing, for 2018 (constant USD). Graphic: Sumaila, et al., 2019 / Marine Policy

The sea is running out of fish, despite nations’ pledges to stop it – Major countries that are promising to curtail funding for fisheries are nevertheless increasing handouts for their seafood industries

By Todd Woody 8 October 2019 (National Geographic) – As global fish stocks that feed hundreds of millions of people dwindle, nations are scrambling to finalize by year’s end an international agreement to ban government subsidies that fuel overfishing. Yet as negotiations at the World Trade Organization resume this week in Geneva, Switzerland, new research shows that governments have […]

Satellite view of Super Typhoon Hagibis, 9 October 2019. Photo: Sam Lillo

Super Typhoon Hagibis threatens Tokyo — Massive typhoon could make direct hit on world’s largest metro area

By Bob Henson 9 October 2019 (Weather Underground) – The most intense Northwest Pacific storm of 2019, Super Typhoon Hagibis, is heading toward a potential encounter with the world’s largest metropolitan area, Tokyo. After a slight weakening in Tuesday (from peak winds of 160 to 155 mph), Hagibis was back at Category 5 strength on Wednesday, with […]

Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro gestures during the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association's Unica Forum 2018 in São Paulo, 18 June 2018. Photo: Miguel Schincariol / Getty Images

Humans bicker while the rainforest burns: Brazil rejects G-7 aid pledged to fight Amazon fires, but Bolsonaro might accept offer if Macron apologizes

By Guy Davies 27 August 2019 LONDON (ABC News) – A senior government official said Brazil would reject the $22 million G-7 countries promised to help fight the wildfires raging in the Amazon. Brazilian President Bolsonaro’s chief of staff Onyx Lorenzoni told Globo News, a Brazilian publication, that Brazil would reject the $22 million aid package, suggesting that the money […]

A male cycad. On 22 August 2019, Chris Kidd, the curator of Ventnor Botanic Gardens, said, “For the first time in 60 million years in the UK we’ve got a male cone and a female cone at the same time. It is a strong indicator of climate change being shown, not from empirical evidence from the scientists but by plants.” Photo: Ventnor Botanic Garden

Ancient plants set to reproduce in UK after 60 million years – “It is a strong indicator of climate change being shown, not from empirical evidence from the scientists but by plants”

By Patrick Barkham 22 August 2019 (The Guardian) – An exotic plant has produced male and female cones outdoors in Britain for what is believed to be the first time in 60 million years. Botanists say the event is a sign of global heating. Two cycads (Cycas revoluta), a type of primitive tree that dominated […]

This 25 January 2019 photo shows water tanks containing contaminated water that has been treated at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan. The utility company operating Fukushima's tsunami-wrecked nuclear power plant said Friday, 9 August 2019 it will run out of space for tanks to store massive amounts of treated but still contaminated water in three years, adding pressure for the government and the public to reach consensus on what to do with the water. Photo: Kyodo News / AP

Fukushima nuclear plant will soon run out of space for radioactive water – 1.37 million ton limit will be reached in the summer of 2022

By Mari Yamaguchi 8 August 2019 TOKYO (AP) – The utility company operating Fukushima’s tsunami-devastated nuclear power plant said Friday it will run out of space to store massive amounts of contaminated water in three years, adding pressure on the government and the public to reach a consensus on what to do with it. Three […]

Screenshot from video showing flooding in Yarumizu, Japan on 3 July 2019. Photo: shige__z / Twitter / AP

One million residents in Kyushu, Japan flee as torrential rains continue – Entire populations of three cities ordered to evacuate – In Ebino, more than 1 meter falls in a day

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, […]

In 2009, G20 governments pledged to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, but a decade on they still provide billions of dollars of support to coal alone. G20 support for coal-fired power plants increased from $17 billion to $47 billion in just three years. Graphic: ODI

G20 countries triple coal subsidies despite climate crisis – “It has now been 10 years since the G20 committed to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, yet astonishingly some governments are actually increasing the amount they give to coal power plants”

By Damian Carrington 24 June 2019 (The Guardian) – G20 countries have almost tripled the subsidies they give to coal-fired power plants in recent years, despite the urgent need to cut the carbon emissions driving the climate crisis. The bloc of major economies pledged a decade ago to phase out all fossil fuel subsidies. The figures, published […]

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