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by Haitham EL-TABEI Agence France-Presse AL-NAMAS, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — As Saudi Arabia swelters in sizzling desert temperatures, some are escaping to the “City of Fog” — a mountainous oasis of cool where warm clothing is needed even in summer. Sitting with friends on a picnic blanket, under light rain and a thick, swirling mist in Al-Namas, Abdullah Al-Enizi wears a body-warmer over his traditional white robes to guard against the chill. The retreat, […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s autumn harvest is under “severe threat” from high temperatures and drought, authorities have warned, urging action to protect crops in the face of the country’s hottest summer on record. The world’s second-largest economy has been hit by record temperatures, flash floods and droughts this summer — phenomena that scientists have warned are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change. Southern China in particular has recorded its longest sustained […]
MAKAYLAB, Sudan (AFP) — In the Sudanese village of Makaylab, Mohamed Tigani picked through the pile of rubble that was once his mud-brick home, after torrential rains sparked heavy floods that swept it away. “It was like doomsday,” said Tigani, 53, from Makaylab in Sudan’s River Nile state, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital Khartoum. “We have not seen rains and floods like that in this area for years,” he said, scouring […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — A hiker swept away in flash floods and torrential rain was still missing Monday as a weekend of storms forced hundreds to evacuate in the latest weather disasters to hit national parks in the United States. Heavy rains were also causing havoc in parts of Texas on Monday as forecasters predicted more precipitation throughout the southern part of the country for the rest of the week. Jetal Agnihotri, who […]
PAGASA forecasts “Florita” to reach tropical storm category by Monday, August 22 (Eagle News) – Tropical depression Florita has slightly intensified while moving west southwestward over the Philippine Sea east of Cagayan. As of 5 p.m., Sunday, August 22, tropical cyclone wind signal no. 1 is in effect in the following areas in Luzon: the northern portion of Aurora (Dilasag), the eastern portion of Isabela (Dinapigue, Palanan, Divilacan, Maconacon, San Pablo, Cabagan, Tumauini, Ilagan City, […]
Beijing, China | AFP | A provincial capital in southwest China has dimmed outdoor advertisements, subway lighting and building signs to save energy, official announcements said, as the area battles a power crunch triggered by record-high temperatures. The mercury has soared beyond 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in Sichuan province this week, fueling massive demand for air conditioning and drying up reservoirs in a region reliant on dams for most of its electricity. Factories including […]
Nelson, New Zealand | AFP | by Ryland JAMES A New Zealand city devastated by flooding will take years to recover, the mayor said on Friday, as hundreds more homes were evacuated. The Pacific nation has been lashed by wild weather with the Nelson-Tasman district on the South Island bearing the brunt after 75 centimetres (29 inches) of rain reportedly fell over three days. Several streets in the city of Nelson were flooded after the […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — Hundreds of families on New Zealand’s South Island were forced to leave their homes on Thursday after dramatic flooding prompted a state of emergency in three regions. A tropically fuelled storm has dumped more than 30 centimetres (11 inches) of rain on parts of the South Island, causing rivers to burst their banks. The extreme weather has also felled trees, blocking major roads. A state of emergency was declared Wednesday […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain and neighboring Portugal fought against large wildfires on Tuesday, while three people were badly injured after their train hurtled into a smaller Spanish blaze. Some 300 firefighters spent a difficult night battling a huge wildfire in southeastern Spain that has burnt through nearly 10,000 hectares in an area notoriously difficult to access, officials said Tuesday. The fire began when lightning hit the Vall de Ebo area in Valencia late Saturday […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese lithium hub Sichuan province will ration electricity supply to factories until Saturday, state media reported, as a heatwave sends power demands soaring and dries up reservoirs. Temperatures in the province — home to nearly 84 million people — have hovered above 40-42 degrees Celsius (104-108 degrees Fahrenheit) since last week, according to data from China’s Meteorological Administration, increasing the demand for air conditioning. The region relies on dams to […]
Paris, France | AFP | Blazes that have torched tens of thousands of hectares of forest in France, Spain and Portugal have made 2022 a record year for wildfire activity in southwestern Europe, the EU’s satellite monitoring service said Friday. Amid a prolonged heatwave that saw temperature records tumble, the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) said that France had in the last three months reached the highest levels of carbon pollution from wildfires since records […]
Hostens, France | AFP | A huge fire that has devastated swathes of southwestern France was largely contained on Friday, but firefighters face another “complicated” day, local authorities said. The 40-kilometre (25-mile) active fire front in the Gironde and Landes departments around Bordeaux “has not developed, but the weather conditions are pushing us towards extreme vigilance,” deputy prefect Ronan Leaustic told reporters. Temperatures of around 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit) were expected in the fire […]
