Tag: climate

‘Extreme heat belt’ to cover middle of US by 2053: report

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — An area of intensely warm weather — a so-called “extreme heat belt” — with at least one day per year in which the heat index hits 125 Fahrenheit (52C), is expected to cover a US region home to more than 100 million people by the year 2053, according to a new study. The research, carried out by nonprofit First Street Foundation, used a peer-reviewed model built with public and third-party […]

Drought officially declared in several parts of England

London, United Kingdom | AFP | The UK government on Friday officially declared a drought in several parts of England, following months of record low rainfall and unprecedented temperatures in recent weeks. At a meeting of the National Drought Group, the government’s Environment Agency said the “drought trigger threshold had been met” in parts of southwestern, southern, central and eastern England. Drought was last officially declared in England in 2018. The Environment Agency on Friday […]

Drought tightens its grip on Morocco

by Kaouthar Oudrhiri Agence France-Presse OULED ESSI MASSEOUD, Morocco (AFP) — Mohamed gave up farming because of successive droughts that have hit his previously fertile but isolated village in Morocco and because he just couldn’t bear it any longer. “To see villagers rush to public fountains in the morning or to a neighbor to get water makes you want to cry,” the man in his 60s said. “The water shortage is making us suffer,” he […]

Swiss mountain pass set to lose all ice within weeks

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The thick layer of ice that has covered a Swiss mountain pass for centuries will have melted away completely within a few weeks, a ski resort said Thursday. Following a dry winter, the summer heatwaves hitting Europe have been catastrophic for the Alpine glaciers, which have been melting at an accelerated rate. The pass between Scex Rouge and Tsanfleuron has been iced over since at least the Roman era. But as […]

Last month one of hottest Julys on record: UN

  Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Last month marked one of the three hottest Julys ever recorded, with global temperatures measuring nearly half a degree above average, the United Nations’ weather agency said Tuesday. “The world just had one of the three warmest Julys on record,” Clare Nullis, spokeswoman for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), told reporters in Geneva. Pointing to fresh data from the European monitoring service Copernicus, she said that July 2022 had […]

Climate deniers use past heat records to sow doubt online

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) – With Europe gripped by successive heatwaves, climate-change deniers are spreading scepticism by publishing data on social media on extreme temperatures allegedly recorded decades ago to imply scientists are exaggerating global warming. But experts say the figures cited from the past are often incorrect or taken out of context — and even if accurate do not change the fact that heatwaves are becoming more frequent and intense. The posts typically include heat […]

Australia backs law to speed carbon emission cuts

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia enshrined deeper cuts to carbon emissions in new legislation Thursday, aiming to shed its decade-long reputation as a fossil-fuel-addicted climate laggard. Lawmakers in the lower house of parliament voted 89-55 in favor of a 43 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 from 2005 levels, on the path to reaching net zero emissions by 2050. It is expected to go to the Senate for final approval in September. Heavily reliant […]

UK sea levels rising quicker than century ago: study

  by Joe JACKSON Agence France Presse Sea levels are increasing around Britain at a far faster rate than a century ago while the country is warming slightly more than the global average, leading meteorologists said Thursday. The annual study — the State of the UK Climate 2021 — found recent decades have been “warmer, wetter and sunnier” than the 20th century. It comes hot on the heels of temperatures topping 40 degrees Celsius (104 […]

Thaw and redraw: melting glacier moves Italian-Swiss border

  by Nicolas CAMUT Agence France Presse Way up in the snowy Alps, the border between Switzerland and Italy has shifted due to a melting glacier, putting the location of an Italian mountain lodge in dispute. The borderline runs along a drainage divide — the point at which meltwater will run down either side of the mountain towards one country or the other. But the Theodul Glacier’s retreat means the watershed has crept towards the […]

One person killed fighting Morocco forest fire

RABAT, Morocco (AFP) — One volunteer firefighter has been killed and another injured in a forest fire in northern Morocco, where new blazes have broken out after a few days of calm, according to local authorities. The two victims were helping Monday in operations to extinguish a fire in Tanouate province near Fez and Meknes, local sources told AFP. The injured volunteer was hospitalized but his life was not in danger. Firefighting services were working […]

Firefighters tackle California wildfire as heat grips parts of US

by David McNew with Chris Lefkow in Washington Agence France-Presse MIDPINES, United States (AFP) — Firefighters were battling California’s largest wildfire of the summer on Monday, a blaze near famed Yosemite National Park that has forced thousands of people to evacuate, officials said. The Oak Fire in central California broke out on Friday and is raging while parts of the United States remain in the grip of a sweltering heat wave. The fire in Mariposa […]

Thousands evacuated as California wildfire grows

Midpines, United States | AFP by David McNew with Michael Mathes in Washington A fierce California wildfire expanded Sunday, burning several thousand acres and forcing evacuations as tens of millions of Americans sweltered through scorching heat. More than 2,000 firefighters backed by 17 helicopters have been deployed against the Oak Fire, which broke out Friday near Yosemite National Park, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) said in a report. But two […]