Within 12 hours Hurricane Otis which slammed into the coastal city of Acapulco, Mexico went from a regular tropical storm to a “category 5” hurricane, the most powerful category and one which might occur only a few times worldwide each year.
More than 300 forest and peatland fires are blazing across Indonesia, prompting government officials to ask people to work from home. A prolonged dry season has caused higher risks of wildfires.
A research team has now found that climate change has a much greater impact on the intensity and frequency of heat extremes in the soil than in the air.
Experts have found that the human body has an "upper critical temperature" of between 40C and 50C, a limit which, if surpassed, can cause it to start malfunctioning.
The temperatures are being driven by human-induced climate change and the naturally-occurring weather pattern known as El Niño, scientists say. Last month was the hottest June on record, the EU's climate monitoring service Copernicus said on Thursday.
The UK research shows that unprecedented heat extremes combined with socioeconomic vulnerability puts certain regions, such as Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, and Central America,most in peril.
According to the new paper, 16 of 35 planetary vital signs have now reached record extremes. That includes rises in the frequency of dangerous heat events, global tree cover loss from fires and the prevalence of the mosquito-borne dengue virus.
Relentless rains in Pakistan over two months have caused the country's worst flooding in more than a decade. Floodwaters have washed away roads, buildings, and crops. A third of the country is now underwater.
Projections suggest that stronger, tornado-producing storms may be more likely as global temperatures rise, though strengthened less than we might expect from the increase in available energy.
The average temperature at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station between April and September, a frigid minus - 61 Celsius and was the coldest on record, dating back to 1957.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the US stated that July 2021 was the hottest month ever recorded globally, in 142 years of recordkeeping. The previous record was set in July 2016.
Extreme temperatures and serious wildfires getting to extreme proportions were recorded this summer in the northern hemisphere. Firestorms is a severe class of flames penetrating the upper limit of the troposphere.
Madagascar is experiencing levels of starvation at a scale described as “beyond belief”. 30,000 people are estimated to be experiencing the highest internationally recognized level of food insecurity, level 5, according to the UN.
Nations have delayed curbing their fossil-fuel emissions for so long that they can no longer stop global warming from intensifying over the next 30 years.
Some parts of Iran had a 50 to 85 % reduction in precipitation this year. There are also temperature rises of 2-3 C. These factors have prompted tensions between the Iranian government and its citizens.
