Hurricane Bertha reached British shores on 10 August, disrupting Britain’s summer holiday season The practice of giving hurricanes names has several advantages: not least, it allows the public to track their progress. But when we heard about Hurricane Bertha – a name rather out of fashion nowadays – we could perhaps be forgiven for not taking it as seriously as we should have done. Bertha started life in early August 2014, not as a full-blown hurricane, but as a tropical wave. It then became stronger, earning it a promotion to the category of tropical storm, before slowing down as it passed across the Caribbean and so being downgraded back to its earlier status. But on 4 August, its winds strengthened to 130km/h (80mph), making it officially a hurricane.
Indigenous people in Brazil have vowed to protect their land as large swathes of the Amazon forest continue to burn. The largest rainforest in the world absorbs billions of tonnes of CO2 every year, slowing the pace of global heating. It is also home to about 3m species of plants and animals and a million people.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro hit back at French leader Emmanuel Macron, after he urged dialogue among G-7 leaders on the rising number of fires in the Amazon rainforest.
For residents of Anchorage, July’s wildfire and unprecedented temperatures plus the current McKinley Fire confirm that global heating has changed life forever Major fires are burning this week in south-central Alaska, lengthening the state’s wildfire season, which has usually ended by the beginning of August. They come after Alaska’s hottest July on record, during which its largest city, Anchorage, had a temperature pass 90F (32C) for the first time. On top of that, the area has seen little rain this summer, resulting in extremely dry conditions. Everything points to more fires, longer fire seasons and tense fires After what we’ve experienced this summer, it does make you wonder what’s ahead of us. Is this going to be the norm?
To protect itself from destructive flooding, the city has built a park designed to store and recycle rainwater In Alicante it never rains but it pours. The city in southeast Spain goes without rain for months on end, but when it comes it’s torrential, bringing destructive and sometimes fatal flooding. Or at least, it used to. In San Juan, a low-lying area of the city, authorities have built a new park with a twist. Called La Marjal, it serves as a typical recreation area and a nature reserve – but its primary purpose is to store, and then recycle, rainwater.
China suffers deadly landslides while storm dumps almost a metre of rain on Taiwan Typhoon Lekima is the fourth typhoon to barrel through the western Pacific this week. The typhoon, which briefly strengthened into a super typhoon last week, battered Taiwan with 120mph (193km/h) winds and inundated the northern mountains with 90cm (35in) of rainfall. Lekima was also the strongest storm in five years to hit China over the weekend. The torrential downpours triggered deadly landslides near Shanghai, as the water pooled over flooded soils. Monsoon-driven floods have submerged the southern peninsula of India, with torrential rainfall in Kerala triggering about 80 landslides.
Action plan to be drawn up as dry summers, storms and pests destroy swathes of woodland A catastrophic combination of heat, drought, storms, forest fires, beetle plagues and a fungi blight have so far this year destroyed swathes of German forest equivalent to more than 200,000 football fields. Forests are one of the most efficient ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and in Germany alone they are able to absorb 62 million tonnes of CO2 – about 7% of the country’s emissions – every year.
Mountain fire races across hundreds of acres in just hours as wildfire season looms large over the state A fast-moving wildfire that broke out on Thursday in northern California has forced the evacuation of nearly 4,000 residents, racing across at least 600 acres within just a few hours, officials say. The Mountain fire, which erupted on the outskirts of a national forest in northern California, has threatened 1,110 homes and structures. As of Thursday evening the fire was 0% contained and officials in Shasta county described the situation as “very fluid”. posted on Twitter by the Shasta county sheriff’s office showed thick black and gray smoke billowing into the area over a highway near the Shasta-Trinity national forest.
There have been more than 72,000 fire outbreaks in Brazil so far this year, up 84% on the same period in 2018, according to the country’s National Institute for Space Research. More than half were in the Amazon. It followed reports that farmers were feeling emboldened to clear land for crop fields and cattle ranches because the new Brazilian government was keen to open up the region to economic activity. The Brazilian president, , instead accused environmental groups of starting fires
More than 70,000 fires have been detected in Brazil's Amazon Rainforest this year .That's a surge of 84% compared to last year. The smoke traveled more than 1,700 miles away to Sao Paulo, where it plunged the city into darkness.
Kerala residents warned of heavy rain after 1.2 million people evacuated in four states India has issued a fresh flood alert for parts of the southern state of Kerala as the nationwide death toll from the annual monsoon rose to at least 244. On Wednesday authorities warned Kerala residents of heavy rainfall over the next 24-48 hours in some of the worst-affected regions of the state.
20 people have refused to leave extended evacuation zone despite repeated warnings An elderly married couple among the Whaley Bridge residents criticised by police for refusing to leave their homes which are at risk of catastrophic flooding have rejected claims they are needlessly putting emergency crews’ lives at risk. Malcolm Venton and Lorraine Ellis said they could not leave their two border collies, Meg and Amy. The couple were asked to leave on Saturday when the evacuation zone was extended, but decided to hunker down, despite the threat of a huge wave rushing out of the damaged Toddbrook reservoir.
Heavy rain swept through eastern China after Typhoon Lekima made landfall in the coastal province of Zhejiang on Saturday. The powerful storm left a trail of destruction after a landslide backed up a river that broke through debris and inundated homes. The death toll from Lekima rose to 44 on Monday morning, according to state media
Plume from unprecedented blazes forecast to reach Alaska as fires rage for third month A cloud of smoke and soot is billowing across Siberia as wildfires in the Arctic Circle rage into an unprecedented third month. The normally frozen region, which is a crucial part of the planet’s cooling system, is spewing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and worsening the manmade climate disruption that created the tinderbox conditions. Greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels, forest destruction and other human activities are trapping heat and putting more energy into the climate system.
Derbyshire’s deputy chief constable said there are about 20 properties with residents refusing to leave A police chief who has been at the forefront of a near disaster in a Derbyshire town has said some residents who refused to leave their homes had put lives at serious risk. About 400 mainly local people packed a school hall to discuss the damaged dam in Whaley Bridge which is still at risk of collapse.
The annual monsoon has caused havoc in the south-east by flooding roads and destroying bridges Myanmar troops and rescue services have scrambled to provide aid in flood-hit parts of the country after rising waters caused by the annual monsoon rains forced residents to flee by boat and a landslide killed at least 52 people. The deluge has tested disaster response after the landslide on Friday in south-eastern Mon state was followed by heavy flooding that reached the roofs of houses and treetops in nearby towns.
Toddbrook Reservoir was built in the 1830s and passed a safety check in November England and Wales have about 2,000 dams and there are around 800 in Scotland. These structures were built for a variety of reasons: to make reservoirs that can supply drinking water to nearby towns and cities; to fill local canals; to help farms; and to create places for fishing, sailing and water sports. In the case of Toddbrook’s dam, it was built in the 1830s to create a reservoir that would provide water for the local canal system. It is still owned by the Canal & River Trust.
Anne Clave was celebrating her mother, Julie Davis, surviving cancer when they were caught in the landslide north of San Diego Three women killed were members of a family who had gathered to celebrate one of them having survived breast cancer, authorities and relatives said on Saturday. Anne Clave, 35, and her mother, Julie Davis, 65, died after tons of sandstone were unleashed on Friday at Grandview beach north of San Diego, the county medical examiner said. A family email obtained by KNSD-TV identified the third victim as Elizabeth Cox, Clave’s aunt.
New Zealand Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management issues tsunami warning for New Zealand in wake of magnitude earthquake in Papua New Guinea - @NZcivildefence
