Millions of people braced for two destructive tropical storms making landfall in the Philippines and US on Friday. Seaside towns evacuated and farmers scrambled to harvest rice early in the path of Typhoon Mangkhut, a category 5 storm tracking across northern Luzon island. It is almost as strong as Haiyan, which killed more than 6,300 Filipinos and displaced some five … [Read more...]
1 million told to flee US East Coast as Hurricane Florence approaches
Hurricane Florence is a "monster" bearing down for a direct hit on the coast. But not everyone is fleeing as the storm approaches. Among those who are staying put despite evacuation orders to over 1 million people throughout the Carolinas and Virginia is Jon Wright, a retired firefighter from New York who lives here now. He plans to board up his windows, hunker down and ride … [Read more...]
German farmers struck by drought fear further damage from climate change
In Germany, record temperatures and no rainfall since early April have led to a drought and thousands of farms are facing bankruptcy because of crop failure. This week, the government pledged $390 million in federal and state aid, but for many farmers, it's not enough. Many of the country's farmers are starting to question whether they can cope with climate change. Tim … [Read more...]
Caribbean states beg Trump to grasp climate change threat
Caribbean states and territories have rounded on the Trump administration for dismantling the US’s response to climate change, warning that greenhouse gas emissions must be sharply cut to avoid hurricanes and sea level rise threatening the future of their island idylls. The onset of this year’s hurricane season has seen leaders in the region tell the Guardian that Donald … [Read more...]
Earth is running out of the resources to sustain life
One of the world's largest banks says the planet is running out of resources and warns that neither governments nor companies are prepared for climate change. The world spent its entire natural resource budget for the year by August 1, a group of analysts at HSBC said in a note that cited research from the Global Footprint Network (GFN). That means that the world's … [Read more...]
In the line of fire: the war against climate change
Earth is smouldering. From Seattle to Siberia this summer, flames have consumed swathes of the northern hemisphere. One of 18 wildfires sweeping through California, among the worst in the state’s history, is generating such heat that it created its own weather. Fires that raged through a coastal area near Athens last week killed 91. Elsewhere people are suffocating in the heat. … [Read more...]
Climate change to blame for Europe’s heatwave
Partly, it’s just the luck of the weather. The jet stream – the west-to-east winds that play a big role in determining Europe’s weather – has been further north than usual for about two months. A stationary high-pressure weather system has left the UK and much of continental Europe sweltering. Iceland, by contrast, has been hit with clouds and storms that would normally come … [Read more...]
Extreme weather is here: too late for business as usual
The future we don't want is already happening with more intense droughts, floods, heat waves, blackouts, food shortages and sea levels gradually rising. It may sound like a post-apocalyptic movie, but delegates to the Adaptation Futures 2018 conference in Cape Town heard that these climate change effects were already happening around the world, and warned that, if we as a … [Read more...]
Flash floods, lightning and gales pummel the Western Cape
Emergency services were on standby as an intense cold front‚ accompanied by heavy rain and gale force winds‚ made landfall in Cape Town early on Thursday. Lightning flickered above the city as the rain poured down before sunrise‚ bringing with it potential flash floods in the city‚ Cape Winelands‚ Overberg and West Coast‚ which will continue into Friday. The South African … [Read more...]
New coal plants not the way forward for drought-prone SA
Support for new coal-fired power plants like the proposed Thabametsi coal-fired power plant in Lephalale, Limpopo is fast drying up in a region where the Water and Sanitation Department rated water security as “high risk” because supply only just meets demand at present. Coal-fired power stations are responsible for half of South Africa’s carbon emissions, and in addition to … [Read more...]
Hawaii’s erupting volcano shows no sign of slowing down
Scalding, black lava crept out of the largest fissure ripped open by Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano, consuming the lush, green landscape around it and lobbing balls of magma known as "spatter bombs" 500 feet into the air, according to footage and reports from the US Geological Survey. Fissure No. 17 split the Earth near Leilani Estates, near the eastern point of Hawaii's Big … [Read more...]
Gulf Stream current at ‘record low’ with potentially devastating consequences for weather
Catastrophic changes in global weather patterns could be on the horizon as scientists confirm the warming Atlantic current has reached a “new record low”. The Gulf Stream current, which has not been running at peak strength for centuries, is now at its weakest point in the past 1,600 years. Climate change resulting from rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is … [Read more...]
Climate change reversal window closing as Bonn talks stall
As the second week of talks at the Bonn Climate Change Conference gets underway, some 200 country delegates remain far from agreeing on a rulebook to implement the Paris Agreement, the historic accord signed in 2015 to reduce emissions and keep the worst effects of climate change at bay. The rulebook is central to the discussions because it outlines how the targets agreed … [Read more...]
