Millions hungry as warming shifts seasons

Rainfall more erratic, shorter. Interviews Oxfam carried out with farmers in 15 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America show that SEASONS ARE SHRINKING IN NUMBER AND VARIETY. This is destroying harvests, pushing farmers to abandon traditional crops and causing widespread hunger -- which, the agency predicts, will likely be "climate change's most savage impact on humanity in the near future". Rainfall is reported to be more erratic, shorter and more violent. UNUSUAL weather events -- including storms, drier spells and fluctuating temperatures -- are happening more often. And farmers say winds and storms have got stronger. "We think that 'changing seasonality' may be one of the most significant impacts of climate change for poor farmers, and that is happening now." "In sub-Saharan Africa, (yields of) maize, which is a staple crop, will decrease by 15 percent by 2020 and that is a big number. Drought is now happening on a yearly basis, and there is increased hunger and starvation because of declining food stocks."

Torrential rain in China leaves at least 20 dead

BEIJING: At least 20 people have died and more than 670,000 had to be evacuated in China after torrential rain and floods destroyed houses, damaged roads and caused rivers to overflow, state media said on Sunday.

The fatalities occurred over several days of relentless heavy rain in the centre and south of the country, also leaving another five people missing, according to Xinhua news agency. 

Water levels of some rivers in the southern Guangxi region were the highest since 1998, when downpours led to the worst flooding in over 100 years and resulted in more than 3,600 deaths nationwide, China Central Television said Saturday.

Rhine three degrees warmer than 100 years ago

BERLIN (AFP) — The Rhine river between Germany and the Netherlands is on average three degrees warmer than 100 years ago, with power stations the main culprits, the German green group BUND said on Tuesday.
According to a study commission by BUND, this stretch of the river is warmed two degrees Celsius by waste water pumped in by industry and by nuclear and coal-fired power plants, and by one degree by global warming.
The warming of one of Europe's biggest rivers affects wildlife, with salmon known to stop swimming upstream to spawn if the water temperature reached 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit), BUND said. Temperatures of 28 degrees (82 Fahrenheit) have been recorded.
"The waste heat from all German power plants would be enough to warm every single building in the country," Joerg Nitsch, head of BUND in the German state of Hesse, said in a statement.
"This gigantic waste of heat that the Rhine has to deal with shows how utterly inefficient producing electricity with coal and nuclear power is," he said.

Unusual Volcanic Sunsets

As expected, reports are filtering in of spectacular sunsets from the Sarychev volcanic eruption earlier in June. This picture is from Canada: keep an eye on the sky for potential over your back yard too!

The volcanic cloud reached upwards of 65,000 feet, penetrating well into the lower stratosphere. Here, the sulfur dioxide gas combines with water vapor to form a weak sulfuric acid solution. These droplets remain aloft for up to three years, producing a slight haze which reflects and refracts sunlight into amazing color schemes.

Photo: Brian Whittaker / Canada

Ten dead in Czech floods, central Europe on alert

NOVY JICIN, Czech Republic (Reuters) - At least 10 people died in flooding in the eastern Czech Republic, and rising river levels prompted flood warnings across central Europe following heavy rains this week.

Officials said at least six people were drowned late on Wednesday and four more died when medical teams were unable to reach them.

Rescuers evacuated hundreds of people from wrecked houses and buildings threatened by high water, and the government moved to deploy up to 1,000 soldiers to help.

The flooding is the central European country's worst natural disaster since heavy floods in 2002, when 17 people died and water ravaged the historic center of Prague, costing the state around $3 billion in repair costs.

More than 100 reported dead in Indian heatwave

BHUBANESWAR, India (AFP) — An acute heatwave roasting much of India has claimed at least 100 lives, with more deaths feared because the annual monsoon rains have yet to come, officials said Thursday.Indians have been watching the skies anxiously after the monsoon failed to appear two weeks ago, prompting concerns about the impact on agriculture and water supplies as lakes run dry after a long, hot summer.

In the capital New Delhi temperatures over the past week have touched 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit).

City in Brazil's Amazon faces worst floods in 56 years

RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) – Manaus, a city deep in Brazil's Amazon jungle, is suffering the worst flooding it has seen in 56 years, civil defense officials said Monday.
Torrential rain in Brazil's north has swollen the Amazon river and its tributaries, including the Negro river on which Manaus sits, they said.
Over the weekend, the Negro river rose to 29.62 meters (88.32 feet) -- just a centimeter off the level it reached in 1953, when it hit 29.63 meters.
At least 18,000 people have been affected by the deluge, which has swamped part of Manaus and washed sewage and trash into houses.
Around 60 people died in April and May when torrential rains lashed the normally dry north and northeast of Brazil.

Summers In UK 'Will Be Like Spain'

British summers could soon be akin to those in the drought-ridden Mediterranean and our winters characterised by severe flooding, according to a new report on climate change.

 UK Climate Impacts Report predicts extremes of temperature will hit the UK if global temperatures continue to rise.
The report is the Met Office's most comprehensive assessment yet of what might happen by the middle to end of the century.
Image: Southern Spain today - but is this the future for the UK?

Tibet drought worst in 30 years

A drought in Tibet has intensified into the region's WORST IN THREE DECADES, leaving thousands of hectares parched and killing more than 13,000 head of cattle. The report follows a warning by China's top weather official last month that the Himalayan region faced a growing threat of drought and floods as global warming melts its glaciers. Drought conditions have hit five of Tibet's six prefectures since last year, affecting 15.3 percent of the remote plateau. Some weather stations had not received significant rainfall in 226 days. "The drought has also been worsened by higher than normal temperatures. Tibet has experienced temperatures 0.4 to 2.3 degrees Celsius (0.7 to 4.1 Fahrenheit) higher than normal years." Experts have repeatedly warned of catastrophic consequences downstream if global warming continues to melt the snows and glaciers of mountainous Tibet, source of many of Asia's mightiest rivers.

UK maps climate change forecasts

Detailed forecasts of how climate change may affect the UK during this century are to be released by the government later.

The report will predict how temperature and rainfall are likely to change at regional and local scales.

Scientists believe winters will be wetter, particularly in the north, and summers drier, especially in the south.

The projected impacts are "worse than the government had feared," according to a source familiar with the project.

The government hopes the UK Climate Projections 2009 report (UKCP09) will allow citizens, local authorities and businesses to plan better for future decades.

"The picture it paints is an alarming one"