Extreme weather wakes US up to climate change

June 29, 2007

US public opinion is rapidly waking up to the threat posed by global warming, despite the best efforts of the Bush Administration and much of industry to deny the problem.
There has been a double-digit increase in the proportion of Americans who say environmental problems are a major global threat - from 23 per cent to 37 per cent, according to a comprehensive survey published this week by the Pew Centre in Washington.
The environment is increasingly in the news in the US, thanks to violent and unusual weather patterns - mainly floods and severe drought - combined with the rising cost of petrol. The past few days have seen dramatic rainfall across the southern states. More than a foot of rain fell across central Texas and Oklahoma yesterday, with more storms predicted.
Hardly a day passes without a report being issued pointing to new environmental threats.

The Pew survey bears out the fact that concern about the environment is still sharply lower in the US than in any other advanced industrial country, with the exception of the UK. In every other Western European country large majorities view global warming as a serious problem, ranging from 57 per cent in Italy to 70 per cent in Spain.
The survey of some 10,000 people worldwide by the Pew Global Attitudes Project found that public opinion in Great Britain mirrors the US view. In the UK, less than half (45 per cent) say it is very serious while another 37 per cent rate it as a somewhat serious concern.
The survey found that the Chinese are far more likely than Americans to cite environmental problems as a major global danger (70 per cent against 37 per cent).
Worldwide, most people in the surveyed countries agree that the environment is in trouble and most blame the US and, to a much more limited degree, China. Read Full Article

'Mini-tornado' sweeps through Kootenays

British Columbia, Canada

June 29, 2007

A severe windstorm tore through the Kootenays on Friday night, injuring several people, damaging houses, knocking down powerlines and partially ripping the roof off an RCMP detachment."We just had a freak windstorm coming through with some rain," said Creston works department foreman Doug Ryckman about 45 minutes after the storm hit. "It's just like a mini-tornado touched down in the southern part of town. It took down several trees and powerlines and we lost part of our metal roofing on our RCMP building, and there's lots of house damage."

"You could see it coming from the west towards the east across the valley and then it just hit with extreme force and it just passed right over, and right now the sky is clearing," Ryckman said.

Winds had reached 96 kilometres per hour just after 6 p.m. in Creston before heading north to Cranbrook, where they were measured at up to 108 km/h, levels rare for the interior of the province.

Click the Image Above to Learn More About British Columbia's Changing Climate

Victorians Prepare to Leave Homes

Breaking Earth News

Photo: Business owners in the main street of Lakes Entrance prepare for floods earlier this week.Photo: Wayne Taylor

Australia

LAKES Entrance residents were warned last night to brace themselves as a king tide threatened to swamp the coastal town.
Amid fears that swelling floodwaters would be unleashed by the tide, the community of 4000 was told to prepare for evacuation and warned that a third of their town could go under water.

While most rivers swollen in recent rains have peaked and begun to recede, authorities fear that when the king tide enters the Gippsland Lakes system from the sea, it will push the floodwaters onto the town.
"In effect, the high tide is going to hold these waters in. They will have no chance to be released into the ocean," said SES spokesman Allan Briggs.

Heatwave and blaze take mounting toll on Greece

Greece

June 29, 2007

Hundreds of firefighters and troops on Friday battled forest fires on a mountain overlooking Athens as Greece's longest heatwave on record claimed three new victims.

Some 200 firefighters, 300 troops and 14 water-carrying aircraft battled two fire fronts in Mount Parnitha National Park which continued to burn after an overnight conflagration that covered many Athens suburbs in ash.
Blazes were raging in another nine locations around the country, but firefighters were gaining the upper hand in the majority of cases, the fire department said.

"We have never had so many fires (in three days)," said deputy government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros.
The fires broke out after a nine-day heatwave with temperatures of more than 40 C (104 F) described by authorities as the longest recorded in the country yet, and were fanned by strong winds.

Temperatures began rising beyond seasonal levels on June 19 and on June 26 the Athens Observatory recorded 44.8 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) at its Acropolis station, the highest since measurements began there 110 years ago.
"Such weather conditions are unprecedented in over 100 years," Antonaros said.

Tahoe wildfire's painful lessons

Lake Tahoe, California
THE WILDFIRE that quickly destroyed more than 200 houses near South Lake Tahoe hit home in the Bay Area in many painful ways.

Many of those homes were owned by Bay Area residents.

The chilling images of charred trees and cars and and lonely chimneys marking where homes used to stand were painful reminders of the Oakland Hills (2,500 homes) and Mount Vision (50 homes) fires.

And the breathtaking swiftness of the flames, driven by strong gusty winds, roaring through wooded neighborhoods parched by years of drought is a chilling reminder of what could happen here again.

Photo Above: A home owner cries as she sits in the remains of a home she rented in Meyers, Calif., that was completely destroyed, June 26, 2007. (Getty Images/Justin Sullivan)
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Prince Charles visits flood-hit region

Breaking Earth News
Great Britain
Photo: A police officer directs residents carrying sandbags in Bentley


The Prince of Wales is visiting people caught up in the floods in South Yorkshire as the region braces itself for more heavy rain over the weekend.

He was visiting Catcliffe in Rotherham and Doncaster to meet flood victims and emergency services as the clean-up continued across the region.

Hundreds of homes remain flooded with the village of Bentley near Doncaster still badly affected.

Three hundred people from the area spent the night in emergency shelters.

Hurricane Wind Hits Bulgaria's Coastal Burgas, Resort Plunged in Darkness

Bulgaria
Photo: A stormy wind and pouring rain raged in the town of Burgas, on the Southern Black Sea coast, late on Saturday. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia Photo Agency)

June 24, 2007
Gale-force winds and pouring rain raged in the town of Burgas, on the Southern Black Sea coast, late on Saturday, uprooting trees and blocking roads.

Rescue teams of the Civil Defense agency worked all night long to fix the damages, whose cost is yet to be estimated.

Four cars were smashed out of recognition by the falling trees, while dozens of districts were left without electricity.

The storm caused a breakdown in the electricity supply to the coastal resort of Sunny Beach and plunged it into darkness for twenty minutes.

Major Forest Fire Threatens Athens Suburbs

Breaking Earth News
Photo: The flames on Mount Parnitha could be seen from Athens


Athens, Greece: Greek firefighters are battling a major forest fire which has threatened the suburbs of the capital, Athens.

The blaze, on the slopes of Mount Parnitha, is being contained, officials say, but a huge plume of black smoke is towering over the city.

Electricity pylons, exploding after a record heatwave, have sparked some of the fires, but arson is also suspected.

The fire near Athens is one of more than 100 blazes which have broken out across Greece in the last few days.

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Rain Continues to Plague Flooded Texas

Breaking Earth News
Texas, USA

Photo: Floodwaters are seen near U.S. Hwy 281 Thursday June 28, 2007, as heavy rains move through the San Antonio area. In San Antonio, there were 52 street closures and 43 calls for high-water rescues, although it's unclear how many people were rescued, said Sandy Gutierrez, a spokeswoman for San Antonio's Emergency Operations Center. (Lisa Krantz, San Antonio Express-News/AP Photo)

More rain fell Thursday in flood-weary parts of Texas, where evacuations were under way and residents were bracing for even more of the constant downpours that have killed 11 people in recent days.

Officials reported calls for dozens of rescues in San Antonio, and hundreds of people were being ordered to leave their homes near the bloated Brazos River in North Texas.

In North Texas, rains continued falling west of Fort Worth, and evacuations of about 300 homes were ordered in Parker County as the Brazos River began creeping into some backyards.

Australia floods engulf towns after long drought

Breaking Earth News
Photo: A neighbor checks a friend's house in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia, on Friday.

MELBOURNE, Australia - The worst floods in decades swept across parts of Australia's drought-parched southeast Friday, engulfing farms and towns and forcing hundreds of people to abandon homes and businesses.

Several rivers in the Gippsland region of southeastern Victoria state north of Melbourne burst their banks late Thursday after two days of heavy rain following months of severe drought.

Police helicopters airlifted about 100 people to safety from several flooded towns Thursday, and Victoria's Premier Steve Bracks warned residents downstream to brace for an onslaught Friday.

Story continues

Europe suffers in extreme weather

Breaking Earth News
European Continent

Dozens of people across southern Europe have perished in a blistering heatwave. Greece authorities said that the LONGEST HEATWAVE IN THE COUNTRY'S HISTORY had killed five people, but media said the death toll was at least ten people. “The weather conditions have been UNPRECEDENTED, we have never had a heatwave lasting for eight straight days.” Athens on Tuesday registered heat up to 46.2C (115.16) in the western district of Nea Filadelfia, the HIGHEST SINCE RECORDINGS THERE BEGAN in 1955. Dozens of wildfires have broken out in rural areas of northern, southern and central Greece and threatened homes before being brought under control. In Romania, the weather-related death toll climbed to 30 after a violent storm lashed the south of the country.



HEAT/DROUGHT/WILDFIRES

The heatwave has killed at least 35 people in parts of southeast Europe and hit wildlife and crops, from the humble toad in Greek lagoons to grain across the region, while fruit is ripening weeks early in Italy. Greece is experiencing its WORST HEATWAVE IN 110 YEARS that has already killed eight people, with temperatures reaching 46 Celsius (114.8 Fahrenheit) during five days of sweltering weather that showed no signs on Wednesday of letting up. In southern Italy, after the HOTTEST SPRING IN NEARLY TWO CENTURIES, this year's harvest of grapes and other fruit and vegetables is expected to be as much as a month earlier than usual, at the beginning of August. The heat is "literally cooking" Sicilian lemons on the trees, while watermelons, peppers, courgettes, peaches and tomatoes are also at risk. Greece's flora and fauna are suffering and environmentalists warned the scorching temperatures could have a long-term effect on animal populations and plants. "Birds, now in their nesting period, laying eggs in exposed nests are at a very high risk. The eggs are overheating if left uncovered so birds have to remain on the eggs for much longer." Swallows are having problems finding mud for their nests, forcing them to travel further in search for their building material while frogs, toads and salamanders are seeing their habitats dry up, shortening their life span and affecting in turn those animals who feed on them. "These are all linked to each other. With the frog and toad populations dropping, birds who feed on them have problems finding food as they stay in Greece until the autumn." Greece's unusually mild winter, coupled with a warmer than normal May and the current June heatwave, has already triggered changes that could be here to stay. Fish stocks in rivers and lakes are dropping as water is pumped out for agricultural use due to a lack of rain, threatening a rare Greek otter which feeds on them. "Flowers above the treeline on Mount Olympus that start blossoming in May have already competed their cycle, far too early. Among those are several rare, indigenous flowers." "This weather creates a web of problems that will have long-term effects if it persists or if it reoccurs in the coming years." A drought in southeast Europe has already threatened grain crops in countries including Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, where the Anatolian news agency quoted the head of a big cooperative as predicting a 50 percent drop in this year's cotton crop.

Johannesburg wakes up to first snow in over 20 years

South Africa

June 27, 2007

Johannesburg residents woke up to a winter wonderland for the first time in over 20 years Wednesday as snowfall blanketed vast tracts of South Africa.
Semi-tropical gardens in affluent areas of the City of Gold were topped with a powdery dusting of white crystals as residents reminisced about the last time they could make a snowball sometime in the early 1980s.
Heavier snowfall was reported in more southerly parts of the country. Several mountain passes in Eastern Cape province were declared impassable as snow continued to fall and roads in the hilly Midlands area of KwaZulu-Natal province were also closed, cutting off at least one town.

Snow

The last time it snowed in Johannesburg was on September 10, 1981. On top of the snow this week, a highly unseasonal and thunderous hailstorm had lashed the area on Tuesday night.

Canadian rash of tornadoes 'unusual'

Canada

Photo: Manitoba tornado on June 23 taken by viewer John Raymond

June 26, 2007

While it is tornado season in Canada, weather experts say the sudden rash of twisters touching down in the West is highly unusual.
A funnel cloud was spotted Monday over Richmond, B.C., while another tornado east of Calgary destroyed a barn and downed a power line that electrocuted a horse in a barbed-wire pen on the property.
On the weekend, residents in Manitoba were terrorized by a series of twisters that ripped through the province in less than 24 hours.
"The fact that you've got almost a year's worth of tornadoes in less than 24 hours is unusual in that extent," Environment Canada's David Phillips told CTV.ca Tuesday.

BIGGER STORMS ARE ON THE WAY

View of the Rose and Crown pub after heavy rainfall caused flooding in Beverley, North East Yorkshire, England, Monday June 25, 2007. Much of Britain was battered by rainstorms, which were expected to dump as much as three inches (75 millimeters) of rain on a country already soggy from an exceptionally wet June, Britain's weather office said. At one point on Monday afternoon, the country's Environment Agency had issued 38 flood warnings. (AP Photo/Owen Humphreys,PA)
» More images

United Kingdom

"Unprecedented weather event" Say Weather Forecasters
FLOOD-battered Britain is on alert for further chaos and loss of life this weekend as fears grow that more heavy downpours are on the way.
Forecasters say an “organised band of persistent showers” is set to sweep the country on Friday and Saturday, bringing several more inches of rain to many already-­saturated regions.The worst of the deluge, expected on Saturday morning, could cause flooding on a national scale, with heavy rainfall likely to hit “almost anywhere”. Experts warned that many waterlogged areas were seriously at risk, as the water now has nowhere to go.There are already 245 areas across the country considered to be at risk of flooding after weeks of rain culminated in Monday’s unseasonal downpour.

Pakistanis and Indians struggle to help storm victims

Pakistan
June 27, 2007

QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani rescue workers struggled on Wednesday to reach villagers, some stranded in trees, after a cyclone hit the coast, while in India, snakes and scorpions hampered efforts to help storm victims.
Early rainy season storms in South Asia have killed nearly 400 people since late last week and more bad weather for at least parts of the region was on the way, weather officials said. Up to 60,000 people in the southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan were affected by a cyclone that hit on Tuesday, killing at least 17 people.
"The situation is out of our hands, it's out of control. The entire town has been inundated and people have taken refuge in tall buildings and trees," Rauf Rind, the mayor of the town of Kach, told Reuters by telephone.

Related News

Cyclone Alert

New cyclone building up in Bay of Bengal

ISLAMABAD: A new cyclone is building up in the Bay of Bengal south of Calcutta in India that could cause more flooding in coastal areas of Pakistan, Chief Meteorologist Shaukat Awan said in a televised interview here on Wednesday.

Romanian state of emergency as drought affects half the country

Romania

June 27, 2007

At least thirty of the 42 counties in Romania have been put on a state of emergency by the Romanian government following weeks of severe drought. Twenty four people have died as the temperatures have soared to a scorching 45 degrees Celsius.Some 1.7 million hectares of cereal crops have been destroyed throughout the country, according to Mediafax, a Romanian News Agency, making this the third consecutive year that Romania has faced a severe natural disaster. 'We need to think about the long-term effects of the drought for the coming winter. Our first focus is on children – ensure water supplies and hydration during the hot season and on people's households to protect them and support them keeping their animals. Together with communities in all WVR ADPs we shall continue working on disaster preparedness plans which we started to work on since the beginning of the year', said Mr. Eugen Borlea – WVR Relief Manager.

Scorching heat, floods wreak havoc across Europe

Photo: A house is flooded due to heavy rain in Bruzaholm, southern Sweden. Dozens of people across southern Europe have perished in a blistering heatwave while storms whipped the north of the continent and floods claimed four lives in Britain, officials said Wednesday.(AFP/SCANPIX/Mikael Fritzon)

June 27, 2007

ATHENS (AFP) - Dozens of people across southern Europe have perished in a blistering heatwave while storms whipped the north of the continent and floods claimed four lives in Britain, officials said Wednesday.

In Greece, authorities said that the longest heatwave in the country's history had killed five people, but media put the toll at at least 10.
"The weather conditions have been unprecedented, we have never had a heat wave lasting for eight straight days," development ministry general secretary Nikos Stefanou told private Flash Radio.
Athens on Tuesday registered temperatures of up to 46.2 degrees Celsius (115.16 degrees Fahrenheit), the highest since recordings there began in 1955, the national weather service said.

Disruption continues after floods

U.K.
June 27, 2007
Photos: Flooding Aftermath



Roads remain closed and hundreds of families are in temporary shelter after floods swept through England.
Flood water is continuing to rise in some areas and more showers are predicted, but forecasters say there will be no repeat of Monday's deluge.
The floods, which were most severe in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the Midlands, have claimed four lives.
The Association of British Insurers says the overall cost of the floods will run into hundreds of millions.

California wildfire in new surge

Breaking Earth News

California, USA



Firefighters trying to contain a raging wildfire in California have suffered a setback, after the blaze jumped a defence line forcing hundreds to flee. The authorities have warned that strong winds forecast for the Lake Tahoe area today could fan the flames. The wildfire has so far destroyed 200 homes and forced 1,000 people to leave. Meanwhile, damp, cooler weather has also helped contain a wildfire on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. The blaze south of Anchorage has spread across 90 square miles (233sq km) and destroyed more than 80 homes


WILDFIRES/HEAT

UTAH - Fire restrictions in effect after early season rash of wildfires - Dry vegetation, soaring temperatures and the approach of the traditional fireworks season have promoted fire officials to issue extreme fire restrictions.

COLORADO - Wildfires near oil and gas drilling operations are raising concerns. The Cottonwood Creek fire near Parachute last week burned within 200 yards of gas wells. It was a stark reminder that the proliferation of mountain hideaway homes isn't the only booming development that's added to the challenge of wild land firefighting in recent years. Western Colorado's energy industry has set up natural gas wells and pipelines in many remote areas where wildfires are a threat. Fire manager for the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit says there are not a lot of rules yet on how to deal with this threat.

More Deaths as Southeast Europe Sizzles

Breaking Earth News

European Continent

FOUR more Romanians have died from a heatwave gripping parts of southeast Europe, raising the region's death toll from the past few days to at least 30.

Turkey's western regions reduced working hours for state officials and authorities urged the elderly and children to stay at home, out of the heat.

In Greece, where the scorching weather has killed five people in the past two days, air conditioning systems working flat out pushed energy consumption towards an all-time high, and state offices closed early at noon to conserve power supplies.

Temperatures soared to 46C in some parts of the country on Monday, and authorities expected the heatwave to continue for at least another three days, making this Greece's hottest June ever.

Freak Storm Hits South Africa

SOUTH AFRICA - June 26: Violent storms which lashed the province Monday night have left more than 500 people homeless in the city of Cape Town and carpeted the mountain ranges with snow. Gugulethu and Lwandle near Strand were hit hardest, with heavy flooding. Wind and flood damage displaced 500 people in the Lotus informal settlement in Gugulethu and 20 in Lwandle. Flooding also drove out 14 residents of Du Noon. The severe weather conditions stem from a cold front which swept in off the Atlantic. The cold front wreaked havoc across greater Cape Town with heavy rainfall and blustery conditions causing flooding, power cuts and extensive damage. (VIDEO)

Cold Front Brings Snow
In Sutherland, Allistar Gibbons, of the Karoo Hoogland tourism office, reported this morning: "It's snowing as we speak!"The mountains are totally covered in snow. And the pass you use to get to us, Verlatenkloof Pass on the R354 from Matjiesfontein, is completely blocked. The police have just informed us that it's unsafe for vehicles because of the heavy snow."The temperature dropped to just above freezing on Monday night and the Cape Town Weather Office predicted a maximum of just 4?C for Sutherland on Tuesday.

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Torrential Rains,Winds Pummel Victoria Area

Breaking Earth News

Gippsland, Australia

Residents of East Gippsland in Victoria are facing one of the biggest floods in years, as a big low pressure system dumps rain from Mallacoota through to the Latrobe Valley.
The weather bureau is predicting rain tallies up to 200 millimetres of rain and driving snow in the high country.
The bureau is warning wind gusts of more than 50 knots (close to 100 kilometres an hour) are expected from Mallacoota through to Wilson's Promontory.
Heavy rain is expected to fall for the rest of the day.
Janice Fowler, at the coastal resort of Loch Sport, says her seaside home is being battered by the gale.
"I'm sitting on a chair looking out the window I have never seen any ocean so rough," she said.
"I'm 155 metres from the water and it is horrific today - white water nearly as far as you can see - absolutely horrific."



Audio Presentation posted at Earth Frenzy Radio Blog

Deadly Floods Force Thousands From Homes

Photo: Catcliffe near Sheffield is under water after heavy rain. Residents have left the village amid fears a nearby dam could collapse.

U.K.

June 26, 2007

Thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes amid severe flooding across England and Wales that is now believed to have claimed four lives.

About 900 people are using emergency shelters in Sheffield, and about 700 have left villages near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, amid fears the nearby Ulley dam could collapse.

Map of affected areas

Thousands flee as cyclone hits Pakistan coast

Pakistan

June 26, 2007

Associated Press
QUETTA, Pakistan – Ten people drowned and thousands fled to higher ground today as a tropical cyclone lashed Pakistan's coastline with heavy rains and high winds, officials said.
Navy ships rescued 75 people from four foundering vessels and were searching for more boats caught in the rough seas, said navy spokesman Lt.-Com. Salman Ali.
Cyclone Yemyin hit parts of the coastline of Baluchistan province at about noon today with winds of up to 90 kilometres an hour, said Qamaruz Zaman, director-general of the Pakistan Meteorological Department.
Rain-swollen rivers flooded several coastal districts, killing at least 10 people, including four children, said Raziq Bugti, spokesman for the provincial government.
Floods washed away some bridges and part of the main coastal highway, causing lengthy traffic delays. Hundreds of villagers clutching possessions filed past on foot.
In the hills, spillways were opened to release the water pressure on two dangerously full dams, Bugti said.

Extreme Flooding In Oklahoma, Texas

Breaking Storm News

Oklahoma, Texas-USA

OKLAHOMA CITY - Residents in parts of Texas and Oklahoma braced for more storms Wednesday, a day after heavy flooding led to the dramatic rescue of stranded motorists and the death of a teenager.

In central Texas, emergency officials received multiple reports Wednesday of people trapped in fast moving water atop vehicles, on roofs or clinging to trees. Emergency crews responded by land, air and boat.

The Oklahoma City area received about an inch of rain in 24 hours, bringing the city's annual total to 28.03 inches — about 10 inches above normal. The downpour was expected to continue Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. Photo Above: Oklahoma City firefighter Cpl. Brent Koeninger, right, pulls 16-year-old Lauren Penn out of a car on a flooded road in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, June 26, 2007. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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Video: The European Heatwave

Deadly flu virus mutatiing rapidly

Pandemic Alert

The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu is mutating unpredictably and at a rapid pace, a senior WHO official has warned Asia Pacific health ministers.

Source: earthfrenzyradio.blogspot.com

NowPublic

Europe hit by killer heatwave and floods

Breaking Earth News Update
European Continent

A searing heatwave has killed at least 44 people across southern Europe while in Britain torrential rain claimed three lives and forced hundreds to flee a creaking dam.

Twenty-nine deaths have been blamed on the heat in Romania where temperatures on Tuesday hit 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit), four in Greece, three each in Italy and Albania and at least five in Bosnia, Croatia and Turkey.

Bucharest was Europe's hottest capital on Tuesday with temperatures at 45 Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) but a heat alert was sounded for much of the south of the country.

Ambulance services were besieged with calls to help people fainting in the street, officials said. Fourteen people have died from the heat in the city over the past week, according to authorities who have set up more than 30 first aid tents in Bucharest alone to cope with the casualties.

Police have been handing out water in the street and the health ministry has warned the elderly and those with debilitating illnesses not to go out during the day.

Too little, too late: Gore blames scientists for climate crisis

Published: 24 June 2007

In an extraordinary outburst aimed at America's failure to tackle global warming, Al Gore says that if scientific agreement on the climate crisis had been reached sooner it would have been easier to "galvanise the public and persuade Congress to act".

The former presidential candidate claims that the stronger scientific consensus he knew was about to emerge meant "we in the US were about to shift into high gear in addressing the climate crisis". Mr Gore argues that if he had made it to the White House, he would have been able to use the office as a "bully pulpit" to achieve change.

"The nature and severity of the climate crisis had seemed painfully obvious to me for quite a long time," claims Mr Gore, writing in a new foreword to a revised edition of his book, Earth in the Balance, being published this week.

In a swipe at the scientific community, he says: "I wish that we could have had in the 1990s the deafening scientific consensus that has emerged in more recent years."

Mr Gore accuses his nemesis, President George Bush, of having taken "virtually no steps to address the problem. Worse, he and Vice President Cheney have led the nation in precisely the wrong direction."

He goes on to detail how the Bush administration reversed a pledge to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant, pulled out of negotiations on the Kyoto treaty and replaced key scientific advisers with ones suggested by oil giant ExxonMobil.

Texas storms cause flooding, damage buildings

Texas, USA
June 25, 2007
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Rainstorms accompanied by high winds swept across Texas on Monday, flooding streets, swelling creeks to near flood stage and damaging buildings.

Storms in North Texas were dropping five centimetres of rain an hour Monday afternoon.

In Rhome, about 40 kilometres northwest of Fort Worth, straight-line winds blew over fences, damaged roofs and sent a metal pole crashing through the roof of one building, said Susan Gomez, a spokeswoman for the Wise County Sheriff's Department

Sustained rainfall over the last month has left the ground saturated and parts of North, Central and East Texas are at high risks of flash flooding. The severe weather shows no sign of letting up, with chances of rain and thunderstorms as high as 90 per cent in some parts of Texas today.

More rain is bringing another week of mild weather. "This is a RARE event. We are more in a mode representative of May or September. This year is pretty special." The rains are causing much more green plant growth than is usual for this time of year, helping to lower temperatures.

Flooding Chaos in the U.K.

Breaking Earth News U.K.
Torrential rain swept across Britain yesterday bringing flooding, tornados and death on the wettest June day on record.

Hundreds of shoppers and office workers were last night stranded by rising waters in the Meadow Hall area of Sheffield as rescue helicopters were airlifting to safety those in most need. One of those trapped described cars floating down the road outside as floodwaters swelled by four feet in a matter of minutes.

In Humberside, hundreds of motorists were marooned on the main route into Hull as floodwater and stranded cars blocked the A63 into the city. Motorists and lorry drivers were standing in the road and sitting on their vehicles in the five-mile tailback in the South Cave area.

Related News

Some parts of Britain had an entire month's worth of rain just in a few hours. The floods could cost the economy millions of pounds, as workers would likely turn up late at work in the coming days, if they manage to make it at all, due to disruptions on transport networks. The number of people in bad trouble was continuing to rise through the evening as reports came in of thousands of people being without power. Elsewhere in Britain rivers broke their banks, flooding roads and homes from Devon in southwest England, to Yorkshire in the north.

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Flood devastation in South Asia

Breaking Earth News
Asia
INDIA, PAKISTAN & AFGHANISTAN - are struggling to cope with the effects of three days of rain that left 350 dead. There are warnings that more bad weather - a cyclone and heavy winds - is imminent. More than 140 have been killed in the rains in India. There have also been a number of deaths in Afghanistan. A landslide in northern Afghanistan struck a wedding party, killing six children. Much of Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi - where 200 died - is still without power and water. Officials have been evacuating residents from shanty towns in Karachi, where badly built homes collapsed or were washed away by the torrential rain. In just one area of the city, Gadap in the north-west, more than 1,000 homes have been destroyed. For weeks before the weekend floods, Karachi had been hit hot weather and power cuts, leading to protests and rioting. The army has been asked to help evacuate people from coastal areas. Winds of up to 40 nautical miles an hour are predicted for the coastline of Pakistan. Fishermen have been told to stay on land because of the dangers of three-metre high waves. In India, the flood situation remains grim in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra. Tamil Nadu and Orissa have been put on alert.
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Toronto to broil during three-day heat wave

Breaking Earth News

Toronto, Canada

A heat alert has been issued for Toronto as the city is expected to bake under a hot sun and sweat through a muggy air mass over the next three days.
The mercury was expected to rise to 32C on Monday, but the humidity would make it feel more like 37C. The record high was 37C, set in 1952, CTV's Tom Brown reported.
A smog advisory was issued by the Ontario government, meaning pollutants from the U.S. and Ontario sources will accumulate and react with sunlight to form photochemical smog.

Stricken Pakistan braces for possible cyclone

Breaking Earth News

Pakistan

Cyclone Alert

KARACHI (AFP) - Pakistan evacuated thousands of people from southern coastal areas ahead of a possible cyclone, two days after a storm killed at least 235 people in the port city of Karachi, officials said.

The meteorological department issued an alert saying that a tropical storm forming in the Arabian Sea 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of Karachi was likely to intensify into a cyclone in the next six to 12 hours.
The new storm was expected to bring strong winds with "heavy to very heavy rainfall" in Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, and neighbouring Baluchistan province, it said on its website. Photo Above: A Pakistani woman looks for shelter during heavy rain, June 25, 2007

Extreme weather hits Europe

Europe
June 22, 2007

EUROPE was experiencing mixed weather this past week. Southern areas are baking in a heatwave while the west has been hit by heavy rainstorms that have killed two Austrians. Temperatures in Istanbul, the capital of Turkey in southern Europe are above seasonal norms. The scorching heat has started to affect daily life in the city. The heatwave has already killed 19 people in southern Europe and emergency service phone lines are running hot. Over in western Europe, Germany has been drenched by a heavy rain storm leading to widespread floods. People have been forced to wade through deep floodwaters and push their vehicles out of the water. And in Austria, a sudden storm mixed with heavy rain killed two people in the capital of Vienna. Hail fell in some areas across Austria, stalling regional train services and leading to power outages and many traffic accidents.

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Monsoon Havoc Continues in India

Breaking Earth News
Photo: MONSOON WOES: A sick person being taken to hospital in flood waters in Mumbai on Sunday.

NEW DELHI: Heavy rain lashed most parts of the country on Sunday with the southern and central parts bearing the brunt of monsoon fury. The death toll in flash floods and house collapses was over 130.
Torrential rain hit Maharashtra, particularly Mumbai and its neighbouring areas, and Karnataka. There was little respite in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, where monsoon has been active over the past week.
Thundershowers are expected to hit Delhi and adjoining areas in the next two days. With the temperature and humidity levels rising considerably, the southwest monsoon is expected to arrive in the Capital between June 29 and July 2, according to the Meteorological Department.