Tag: climate

Evacuation orders issued as wildfire grows near Canada’s Alberta oil patch | Environment News

Authorities say firefighters are facing a ‘challenging day’ as a huge blaze nears Fort McMurray in the Alberta tar sands.

Authorities in the Canadian province of Alberta have issued evacuation orders for neighbourhoods in Fort McMurray, as a growing wildfire nears the community at the heart of Canada’s tar sands region.

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo on Tuesday afternoon gave residents of the Abasand, Beacon Hill, Prairie Creek and Grayling Terrace areas about two hours to leave their homes due to an approaching wildfire.

“These neighbourhoods directly interface with where the fire could potentially spread. Regional Emergency Services will better be able to defend these neighbourhoods from wildfire if they are uninhabited and clear,” the municipality said.

Located about 430km (270 miles) northeast of Edmonton, Fort McMurray has experienced devastating wildfires before.

In 2016, tens of thousands of people were forced to flee as a huge blaze destroyed homes, businesses and other structures in the town.

The current wildfire – dubbed MWF107 – has grown to 9,602 hectares (23,700 acres) and is considered out of control, the province’s Alberta Wildfire agency said in an update on Tuesday. It was located about 15km (9 miles) southwest of Fort McMurray.

“Smoke is impacting visibility, and it is difficult to determine accurate distances at this time,” the agency said on Tuesday morning.

“Fire activity is increasing on the northeastern edge of the wildfire, driven by winds from the southwest. Smoke columns are developing. This will be a challenging day for firefighters.”

Canada saw its most intense fire season on record in 2023, as hundreds of wildfires burned in provinces and territories across the country.

The huge blazes forced thousands from their homes, destroyed entire communities and sent enormous plumes of smoke into the United States as well as Europe.

Experts say the climate crisis is largely responsible for the record-setting conflagrations. Higher temperatures have extended the Canadian wildfire season, which typically runs from the end of April until September or October.

It has also increased lightning, which is generally the cause of about half of all the blazes in the country.

Over the past few days, a few thousand people in Canada’s westernmost province of British Columbia were also evacuated from their homes after a huge wildfire broke out near the small town of Fort Nelson, in the province’s northeastern corner.

The Parker Lake wildfire near Fort Nelson, a small town in northeastern British Columbia, on May 10 [Andrei Axenov/BCEHS/Handout via Reuters]

Known as the Parker Lake wildfire, the blaze in British Columbia could approach the town and the nearby Fort Nelson First Nation, as authorities warn of the risk of strong winds steering the flames.

But local media reported that Tuesday brought favourable weather conditions to the area.

Rob Fraser, the mayor of Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, which includes Fort Nelson, told CBC News on Tuesday morning that the weather was “very calm” and an overcast sky should help crews respond.

“As long as the wind doesn’t come up from the west, it won’t blow any closer to the town,” Fraser said.

Last week, the Canadian government said that meteorologists with Environment and Climate Change Canada had predicted “weather conditions for spring and summer 2024 that could lead to greater wildfire risks”.

“As we can expect with climate change, most parts of Canada have experienced warmer and drier spring conditions so far, with the added influence this year of El Nino,” the government said in a statement.

“Drought conditions are expected to persist in high-risk regions in May, including the southern regions of the prairie and western provinces.”



Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Brazil flooding death toll hits 100 as government pledges aid | Floods News

Crews race to rescue survivors as floodwaters displace 160,000 people across southern state of Rio Grade do Sul.

The death toll from tremendous flooding in southern Brazil has reached 100, the local civil defence agency said, as emergency crews continued to search for dozens of missing people.

Nearly 400 municipalities have been affected after days of heavy rains swamped the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.

The floodwaters injured hundreds of people and forced 160,000 others from their homes as of Wednesday, while the state civil defence authority said 128 people were still missing.

Brazil’s national centre for natural disasters said the southern part of the state was under “high risk” of more floods throughout the day.

It said rainfall was expected to restart, and although it was not expected to be significant in volume terms, water levels are already high in many places and the soil is saturated.

Many residents have no access to drinking water or electricity – or even the means to call for help with telephone and internet services down in many places.

State Governor Eduardo Leite warned earlier this week that the human toll was likely to rise as “the emergency is continuing to develop” in the state capital of Porto Alegre and other areas.

Only two of the six water treatment plants in Porto Alegre – home to about 1.4 million people – were functioning, the mayor’s office said on Tuesday, and hospitals and shelters were being supplied by tankers.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has promised that there would be “no lack of resources” to meet the needs of residents.

“We understand the difficult financial situation faced by Rio Grande do Sul,” he said at an event in Brasilia, adding he wanted to make sure the state would get “everything it is entitled to”.

“We still don’t know the exact dimension of the floods, that will only be clear to us when the water levels return to normal,” Lula said.

About 15,000 soldiers, firefighters, police and volunteers were at work across the state to rescue those trapped and transport aid.

The Brazilian navy also was expected to send its NAM Atlantico vessel – Latin America’s largest – to Rio Grande do Sul on Wednesday with two mobile water treatment stations.

In Gasometro, a part of Porto Alegre popular with tourists, the water continued to rise on Wednesday, complicating rescue efforts.

“You can only cross on foot or by boat. There is no other way,” 30-year-old Luan Pas told the AFP news agency next to a street turned into a stagnant, smelly river.

Another Porto Alegre resident, Adriana Freitas, said she had “lost everything”.

“It’s sad when we see the city, our house, in the middle of the water,” Freitas told Reuters. “It seems like it’s over, that the world has ended.”

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

‘Desperate’ rescues under way as Brazil floods kill 90, displace thousands | Floods News

Rescuers are rushing to evacuate people stranded by floodwaters across the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, where at least 90 people have been killed and more than 130 others are missing.

The state capital of Porto Alegre has been virtually cut off by the flooding, with the airport and bus station closed and main roads blocked.

Reporting from the city on Tuesday afternoon, Al Jazeera’s Latin America editor Lucia Newman said the situation had become “very desperate” as volunteers and rescue crews try to evacuate residents.

“Everywhere you look, people have no water, no electricity. Sewage has, in this part of town which is downtown, completely come up.”

The state’s Civil Defence agency said the death toll has risen to 90 with another four deaths being investigated. Another 131 people are still unaccounted for, and 155,000 are homeless.

Heavy rains that began last week have caused rivers to flood, inundating whole towns and destroying roads and bridges.

In Porto Alegre, a city of 1.3 million residents on the Guaiba River, residents faced empty supermarket shelves and closed gas stations, with shops rationing sales of mineral water.

Five of Porto Alegre’s six water treatment facilities are not working, and Mayor Sebastiao Melo on Monday decreed that water be used exclusively for “essential consumption”.

“We are living an unprecedented natural disaster, and everyone needs to help,” Melo told reporters.

“I am getting water trucks to football fields, and people will have to go there to get their water in bottles. I cannot get them to go home to home.”

Almost half a million people were without power in Porto Alegre and outlying towns, as electricity companies cut off supplies for security reasons in flooded neighbourhoods.

The national electrical grid operator ONS said five hydroelectric dams and transmission lines were shut down due to the heavy rains.

Al Jazeera’s Newman reported that in nearby Eldorado do Sul, a city of 50,000 residents just across the river from Porto Alegre, the streets were “completely covered” with floodwaters on Tuesday.

“It was a desolate situation and desperate for the people who are being rescued, one by one,” said Newman. She explained that large vessels can’t get into the city, which has forced rescuers to use smaller boats.

“It could take days and weeks more before everyone is safe,” she explained.

Rescue workers drive a boat in a flooded street in Porto Alegre on May 7 [Diego Vara/Reuters]

The downpour has stopped for now, but a looming cold front is expected to bring more severe rain starting on Tuesday night, mainly in the southern part of the state, according to Brazil’s National Meteorological Institute.

The rainfall could exceed 150 millimetres (nearly six inches) by early Wednesday.

Back in Porto Alegre, resident Maria Vitoria Jorge told The Associated Press that she decided to leave behind her flooded apartment building downtown.

She withdrew about 8,000 reais ($1,600) from her savings to rent an apartment for herself and her parents elsewhere in the state.

“I can’t shower at home, wash the dishes or even have drinkable water,” the 35-year-old yoga teacher told the news agency from her car as she prepared to depart her old home.

She had about four litres (one gallon) of water for the 200km (125-mile) drive to the city of Torres, which has so far been unaffected by the floods.

Another resident, Adriano Hueck, on Tuesday was attempting to retrieve medicine stocked at a friend’s warehouse, which is partially flooded.

“If we can save some of it, there’s still a chance it can be useful in hospitals,” said the 53-year-old, who then pointed towards another part of the city. “My house is somewhere there. You can’t even see its roof now.”

Floodwaters surround the historic market in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on May 7 [Diego Vara/Reuters]

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Pakistan records ‘wettest April’ in more than 60 years | Climate News

At least 144 people died due to the heavy rainfall in April.

Pakistan has experienced its “wettest April since 1961”, receiving more than twice as much rain as usual for the month, the country’s weather agency has said.

April rainfall was recorded at 59.3mm (2.3 inches), “excessively above” the normal average of 22.5mm (0.9 inches), the metrology department said in its monthly climate report released late on Friday.

The highest rainfall was recorded in the southwestern province of Balochistan with 437 percent more than average.

At least 144 people also died in the thunderstorms and house collapses due to heavy rains in April.

The largest death toll was reported in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where 84 people died, including 38 children, and more than 3,500 homes were damaged.

While much of Asia is sweltering due to heatwaves, Pakistan’s national monthly temperature for April was 23.67 degrees Celsius (74.6 degrees Fahrenheit), 0.87C lower than the average of 24.54C, the report added.

“Climate change is a major factor that is influencing the erratic weather patterns in our region,” Zaheer Ahmad Babar, spokesman for the Pakistan Meteorological Department, said of the report.

In 2022, downpours swelled rivers and at one point flooded a third of Pakistan, killing 1,739 people. The floods caused $30bn in damages, from which Pakistan is still trying to rebuild. Balochistan saw rainfall at 590 percent above average that year, while Karachi saw 726 percent more rainfall than usual.

“The flash floods caused extensive damage to vast area of crops, particularly the wheat crop, which was ready for harvest,” the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA said in a recent report.

“This has resulted in significant economic losses for local farmers and communities, compounding the losses from the rain-related incidents,” it said.

Meanwhile, parts of Pakistan have also been hit by heatwaves and severe air pollution, which experts say are exacerbated by inadequate infrastructure and ineffective governance.

“We are witnessing climate change-related incidents nearly every year now. Yet we are not prepared for it,” environment lawyer and activist Ahmad Rafay Alam told the AFP news agency.

“It is the responsibility of our provincial and federal governments to prioritise climate relief and mitigation measures. However, their focus appears to be primarily on political matters,” Alam added.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Invisible plastic: Why banning plastic bags will never be enough | Environment News

This week, the fourth round of treaty talks by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution concluded in Ottawa, Canada. A major bone of contention between negotiators from 175 countries is whether or not to limit the production of plastic, most of which is made from fossil fuels and chemicals and which causes pollution after use, as it does not fully or easily biodegrade.

Despite several rounds of talks, the pervasive plastic problem remains unresolved. A final round of talks is scheduled to be held in South Korea at the end of this year.

Amid global struggles to curb plastic pollution, the United Kingdom said last month that it would introduce legislation to ban wet wipes which contain plastic. Wet wipes made with plastic have been shown to leach harmful microplastics into the environment after they have been disposed of.

Everyone knows that plastic bags are a blight on the environment, but what other everyday items – also known as “invisible plastics – unexpectedly contain plastic or harmful “microplastics” and is there a solution?

What are invisible plastics and ‘microplastics’?

These are items which are seemingly not made of plastic – such as wet wipes – but which, once disposed of, release plastic into the environment.

“Invisible plastics are everywhere,” Tony Walker, a professor at the School for Resource and Environmental Studies at Dalhousie University in Canada who also belongs to the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty, said.

“In terms of global plastic production, which includes things like the table I’m sat at, the chair I’m sat on, my computer – you name it, it probably contains a plastic of some kind.”

Not all plastic needs to be eliminated, he said, particularly if it is used to make furniture which could last for several decades.

Single-use items containing plastic should be the focus, he added. These are adding to the “tonnes of plastic that are sitting in our landfills”, he said, often leaching harmful microplastics into the environment.

Microplastics are tiny particles of plastic which can even make their way into our food – for example by first being broken down and ingested by fish when they get into the sea. Walker added that even so-called “biodegradable plastic”, which is advertised as being able to break down naturally once disposed of, can contain microplastics.

Plastic can break down into microplastics in the sea, and enter the food chain [Shutterstock]

Which unexpected items could contain plastic?

Some other everyday items which surprisingly contain plastic are:

  • Chewing gum: A key ingredient used in making chewing gum – “gum base” – actually contains polyvinyl acetate, a plastic which does not biodegrade once the gum is disposed of.
  • Tea bags: To retain their shape while they are in hot water, most tea bags are lined with a plastic called polypropylene. The same applies to many coffee filters.
  • Sunscreen: Several brands of sunscreen use microplastics as an ingredient in their formula.
  • Aluminium cans: Many aluminium cans that contain soda have a lining of plastic to prevent the acid from the soda from reacting with the metal of the can.
  • Receipts: Many receipts are printed on thermal paper, which is coated with a layer of plastic to give it a shiny finish, making most paper receipts non-recyclable.
  • Toiletries and laundry products: Some toothpaste brands contain tiny beads or micro-beads of plastic which act as exfoliants. These do not degrade or dissolve in water. Micro-beads can also be found in facial scrubs, makeup products and laundry detergent powders.

What are countries doing about this problem?

During a session of the United Nations Environment Assembly in March 2022, a landmark resolution was adopted to draft an international legally binding treaty on plastic pollution.

Under the resolution, an intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) including representatives from 175 countries, has been holding talks with the aim of drafting a treaty by the end of this year. Previous sessions have convened in Uruguay, France and Kenya. The fourth session wrapped up this week in Canada and the last one will be held between November and December in South Korea.

This time, major disagreements about limiting the amount of plastic manufactured globally arose.

Environmental experts say it is crucial that they reach an agreement on this issue. Plastic production continues to rise around the world and the annual production of fossil fuel-based plastic is projected by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to triple by 2060 if nothing changes.

The head of Greenpeace in Ottawa, Graham Forbes, said that it will be impossible to end plastic pollution without massively reducing plastic production.

“Current global production [of plastic] is over 400 million metric tons [tonnes] annually,” said Walker. “However, we’re recycling on average as a planet, only 9 percent. That leaves 91 percent of 400 million metric tons as waste.”

Why don’t some countries want to reduce plastic production?

This is mainly down to economic factors, experts say.

Some “have vested interest in producing plastic products or petroleum products”, Walker explained. These countries believe that stopping the production of plastic would hurt their economies, he added.

Will governments find a solution?

Experts are calling on countries represented at the INC to work much harder to reach a consensus on the production of plastic before the end of this year.

Walker pointed out that plastic is a transboundary pollutant, crossing rivers and borders, meaning countries should have a vested interest in tackling this issue. “Plastics are now in the atmosphere, in the air we breathe, so they’re actually travelling between continents on air currents,” said Walker.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Why has the flooding in Kenya been so devastating? | Weather News

Torrential rains have caused devastating floods in Kenya, where more than 200 people have died, thousands have been displaced and nearly 2,000 schools have been destroyed. All remaining schools have been shut down until further notice.

Rains have been ravaging Kenya since March during some of the most catastrophic weather events in the country for years. Now, Cyclone Hidaya is expected to hit Kenya and neighbouring Tanzania late on Friday, which could further worsen the flooding. This comes amid recent heavy rainfall across East Africa.

Here is more about the floods in Kenya so far:

How many people have been killed and injured in Kenya’s floods?

The flooding has wreaked havoc in Kenya, causing death and destruction. Here are the latest figures from Kenya’s Ministry of Interior on Friday:

  • At least 210 people have been killed, including 20 in a recent 24-hour period, and 125 have been injured.
  • Ninety people have been reported missing with dozens believed to be lost under the debris.
  • About 3,100 households have been displaced.
  • The schools that have been destroyed number 1,967.

“There are many people who cannot be found. Many of my neighbours cannot be found,” Jane Wambui, a flood survivor, told Al Jazeera.

Many of those who have been worst affected by the flooding live in informal settlements, such as Nairobi’s Mathare, where residents have accused the government of neglecting them.

“The government says they deployed the military and the national youth service and they are stepping up search and rescue missions, but where are they? It has been a week, and where are they? I have not seen anyone here in Mathare. Not one person from the government has come to help us,” Mathare resident Collins Obondo said.

Where in Kenya is the flooding the worst?

In the town of Mai Mahiu in southern Kenya, a dam burst on Monday, killing at least 48 people.

(Al Jazeera)

Mai Mahiu in Nakuru County is west of the capital, Nairobi, which is expected to be hit by more heavy rains, according to a warning issued on X on Friday by Kenya’s Meteorological Department.

What has caused the flooding in Kenya?

While climate events such as El Nino – the warming of the surface water of the Pacific Ocean, which causes heavy rainfall in some parts of the world – have been linked to the increase in rain, many Kenyans believe the flooding has been exacerbated by lack of investment by the government.

In Mathare, locals blamed the flooding on poorly maintained, frequently blocked drains that have caused water to accumulate.

Flood survivor Nahason Igeria told Al Jazeera: “This was caused by the state national Railways Corporation. They are the ones who built the culvert downstream and the tunnel upstream. It should be their responsibility to maintain the system.”

On Thursday, Human Rights Watch published findings that low-income neighbourhoods, such as Mathare, had been severely impacted by the floods due to “less solid structures, congestion and poor sanitation infrastructure”.

In a statement, Greenpeace Africa Executive Director Oulie Keita said the floods are a “stark reminder of the human cost of the climate crisis”, adding, “Some of the damage was further worsened by misinformed development.”

How has the Kenyan government responded to the floods?

In anticipation of Cyclone Hidaya, President William Ruto’s government has ordered mandatory evacuations for residents living close to 178 dams and water reservoirs in 33 counties.

During his national address to the nation on Friday, Ruto said he had directed the Ministry of Education to postpone the reopening of schools for their second term until further notice. Besides the schools destroyed since March, many other schools are being used to shelter those who have been displaced by the floods.

Ruto’s approach to managing the floods has been criticised by residents of Mai Mahiu and of several informal settlements that have been devastated by floodwaters.

Human Rights Watch said the government failed to act following the Meteorological Department’s warnings in May last year that Kenya would experience enhanced rainfall due to El Nino and it would continue into 2024.

While the government set aside at least 10 billion Kenyan shillings ($80m) in preparation for a nationwide response, it did not outline a plan of action. In October, Ruto mistakenly said Kenya would not experience El Nino rainfall as had been predicted.

The Meteorological Department now expects the rainfall to continue until June.

What impact is Cyclone Hidaya expected to have?

Cyclone Hidaya is likely to result in “heavy rainfall, large waves and strong winds that could affect marine activities in the Indian Ocean”, the presidential office said.

The cyclone is also expected to make the search for the bodies of those missing and feared dead even more difficult, experts said.



Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Rains, mudslides kill 29 in southern Brazil’s ‘worst disaster’ | Floods News

The death toll from heavy rains in Brazil’s southern Rio Grande do Sul state has climbed to 29, with at least 60 people missing, according to the state’s civil defence agency.

The authorities in Rio Grande do Sul have declared a state of emergency as rescuers continue to search for dozens of people reported missing among the ruins of collapsed homes, bridges and roads.

Rescuers and soldiers have been scrambling to free families trapped in their homes, many stranded on rooftops to escape rising waters.

Storm damage has affected nearly 150 municipalities in the state, also injuring 36 people and displacing more than 10,000.

Governor Eduardo Leite said Rio Grande do Sul was dealing with “the worst disaster in [its] history”, adding that the number of dead was expected to rise.

On Thursday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva promised “there will be no lack of human or material resources” to “minimize the suffering this extreme event … is causing in the state”.

Federal authorities have already made available 12 aircraft, 45 vehicles and 12 boats as well as 626 soldiers to help clear roads, distribute food, water and mattresses, and set up shelters.

Forecasts warned that the state’s main Guaiba river, which has already overflowed its banks in some areas, could rise to four metres (13 feet) on Friday.

Entire communities in Rio Grande do Sul have been completely cut off as the persistent rains have destroyed bridges and blocked roads, and left towns without telephone and internet services.

The authorities have told people to avoid areas along state highways due to the risk of mudslides, and urged those who live near rivers or on hillsides to evacuate.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been left without access to drinking water, while classes have been suspended statewide.

South America’s largest country has suffered a string of recent extreme weather events, which experts say are made more likely by climate change. The floods came amid a cold front battering the south and southeast, following a wave of extreme heat.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Kenya searches for missing people amid deadly floods | Floods News

Rescuers are searching for many people missing amid devastating flooding across Kenya.

The Ministry of Interior and National Administration said on Tuesday that a search operation had been launched following the bursting of a dam in Mai Mahiu in the centre of the country the previous day. Hundreds of people are reported to have died as heavy rains have lashed East Africa in recent weeks.

At least 46 people were reported killed on Monday morning after the bursting of the dam led to mudslides and flash floods in Mai Mahiu, the ministry said in a situation report. Survivors described an onslaught of water that carried away houses, cars and railway tracks.

“When I opened the door, the water gushed in and made its way through the kitchen,” said resident Anne Gachie. “My husband managed to quickly manoeuvre and get out. My daughters, who were in the next room, were swept out of the house.”

Fifty-three people in Mai Mahiu were reported missing, the Interior Ministry said. Meanwhile, the Kenya Red Cross said its tracing desk had reports of 76 people missing.

The eastern county of Garissa, where four people were killed when their boat capsized over the weekend and 23 others were rescued from the floodwaters, has reported 16 people missing.

At least 169 people have died across Kenya as heavy rains have buffeted Eastern Africa since mid-March, causing flooding and other catastrophes.

More than 185,000 Kenyans have been forced from their homes. Hundreds have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced in neighbouring Tanzania and Burundi.

Scientists say climate change is causing more intense and frequent extreme weather events.

At least 120 people were killed in Kenya late last year in floods caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon. Those rains followed the worst drought large parts of East Africa had experienced in decades.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Asia bears biggest climate-change brunt amid extreme weather: WMO | Climate News

World Meteorological Organization says floods and storms were leading cause of casualties and economic losses as impact of heatwaves becomes more severe.

Asia was the region most affected by climate change, weather and water-related hazards globally last year, the United Nations weather agency has said.

In a report published on Tuesday, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said floods and storms were the main cause of casualties and economic damage in 2023, while the impact of heatwaves became more severe.

It found that Asia has been warming faster than the global average, with temperature rises in 2023 averaging nearly 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1961-90 average.

“Many countries in the region experienced their hottest year on record in 2023, along with a barrage of extreme conditions, from droughts and heatwaves to floods and storms,” WMO chief Celeste Saulo said in a statement.

She added that climate change “exacerbated the frequency and severity of such events”, calling the report’s conclusions “sobering”.

The agency said 79 disasters associated with water-related weather hazards were reported in Asia last year. Of those, some 80 percent were floods and storms, with more than 2,000 deaths and nine million people directly affected.

The State of the Climate in Asia 2023 report also found that floods were the leading cause of death in reported events in 2023 “by a substantial margin”.

Hong Kong recorded 158.1mm (6.2 inches) of rainfall in one hour on September 7 – the highest since records began in 1884 – as a result of a typhoon.

The report also highlighted that most glaciers in the high mountain region in Asia had lost significant mass because of record-breaking high temperatures and dry conditions.

Precipitation was below normal in the Himalayas and in the Hindu Kush mountain ranges in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2023, while southwest China suffered from a drought, with below-normal precipitation levels in nearly every month of the year.

Particularly high average temperatures were recorded from western Siberia to Central Asia, and from eastern China to Japan, the report said, with Japan having its hottest summer on record.

‘Urgency’ for action

The report comes as a number of Asian countries have been hit by severe floods in recent weeks.

In southern China, more than 100,000 people were evacuated on Tuesday due to heavy rain and floods that have killed at least four people. Meanwhile, authorities in Afghanistan and Pakistan last week declared a state of emergency in some regions after heavy rains and flash floods killed at least 100 people.

The WMO said there was an urgent need for national weather services across Asia to improve tailored information to officials working on reducing disaster risks.

“It is imperative that our actions and strategies mirror the urgency of these times,” said Saulo.

“Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the evolving climate is not merely an option, but a fundamental necessity.”

Peter Newman, professor of sustainability at Curtin University, told Al Jazeera that climate change is a “war that we are inducing onto ourselves,” adding that the world is in the middle of climate crisis that is expected to get worse until net zero emissions are implemented thoroughly.

“If we can do that by 2040, for example, then immediately, we would start to get on top of it all, but until then we are going to have to expect more damage from floods, fires, and all kinds of weather changes,” he said.

He referred to the recent floods across Asia as a “terrific wake-up call”, adding that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, of which he’s a co-ordinating lead author, has been predicting changes for some time, but that they have “come quicker than we thought.”

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Exit mobile version