Survey of Recent Media: #AcceleratingGlobalClimateCataclysm

• Climate Change Affecting US National
  Parks Scientists are warning that if
  the warming continues at its current
  rate, much of the wildlife and
  vegetation in the parks is in danger
  of disappearing by the end of the
  century. "Climate change is the
  greatest threat the national parks
  have ever faced, … [ they] are warming
  at twice the rate as the rest of the
  country," the National Parks
  Conservation Association said on its
  website.
  https://www.voanews.com/a/climate-change-affecting-us-national-parks-/6717522.html
  2022-08-28

• Drought in England, fires rage in
  France as heatwave persists. France
  continues to battle an enormous
  wildfire while parts of England face
  severe drought amid successive
  heatwaves.

  • ... fire also raged in Portugal and parts of England faced a severe drought, as successive heatwaves renewed the focus on climate change risks.
  • Much of Europe has faced weeks of baking temperatures that have also depleted water levels of the Rhine River in Germany and seen the source of Britain’s River Thames dry up further downstream than in previous years.
  • High temperatures and a worsening drought brought a high risk of new fires breaking out in Gironde, in southwestern France, local officials said, even after an overnight reprieve held in check the wildfire that has been burning for days, scorched thousands of hectares and displaced 10,000 people. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/12/drought-in-england-fires-rage-in-france-as-heatwave-persists

• Europe dries up from climate change-
  driven drought. Climate change has
  drastically affected water levels in
  famed rivers across Europe. Whole
  territories are vanishing with the
  current drought — possibly the worst
  in 500 years. Europe – continent of
  historical arable sustainability – is
  drying up.

  • What makes the current crisis in Europe significant is its scale. According to the European Drought Observatory (EDO), 64% of the land in the European Union is being affected by drought, with 47% of the territory classed as having “warning” conditions and 17% facing “alert” conditions.
  • In France, the warming of the Rhône and Garonne has made its water prohibitively hot to cool nuclear reactors. https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/europe-dries-up-from-climate-change-driven-drought,16696 2022-08-28

• Scientists warn of frequent, intense
  heatwaves, drought in China due to
  climate change.

  • 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, CNA reported. 2022-08-28
  • China produces more than 95 per cent of the rice, wheat and maize it consumes, but a reduced harvest could mean increased demand for imports in the world’s most populous country – putting further pressure on global supplies already strained by the conflict in Ukraine, CNA reported. 2022-08-27

• BC (Canada) Climate News Aug. 22 to
  Aug. 28:

  • Extreme heat in China destroys crops
  • High hopes for Fraser River sockeye dashed by precipitous returns
  • Summer lurches from drought to flood
  • Illegal road threatens Amazon rainforest
  • Pakistan floods have affected over 30 million people: climate change minister https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/climate-news-to-aug-28 2022-08-27

• Climate change brings extreme flooding
  to Pakistan and drought to China at
  the same time
  https://www.grid.news/story/global/2022/08/26/world-in-photos-climate-change-brings-extreme-flooding-to-pakistan-and-drought-to-china-at-the-same-time/
  2022-08-26

• Seen from space: Extreme drought dries
  up rivers across the globe
  https://www.climatechangenews.com/2022/08/26/visuals-extreme-drought-dries-up-rivers-globe-satellite-images/
  2022-08-26

• China’s Record Drought Is Drying
  Rivers and Feeding Its Coal Habit Dry
  weather in southwestern China has
  crippled huge hydroelectric dams,
  forcing cities to impose rolling
  blackouts and driving up the country’s
  use of coal.
  https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/26/business/economy/china-drought-economy-climate.html
  2022-08-26

• Climate change and drought look set to
  worsen food inflation, as Iowa corn crop
  is ‘underwhelming’ and ‘disappointing’
  https://fortune.com/2022/08/26/climate-change-drought-iowa-corn-crop-food-inflation/
  2022-08-26

• Drought forces earliest harvest ever
  in French wine country Climate change
  is encroaching on the prestigious
  vineyards of Bordeaux
  https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/drought-forces-earliest-harvest-french-wine-country-88881748
  2022-08-26

• China’s Record Drought Is Drying
  Rivers and Feeding Its Coal Habit Dry
  weather in southwestern China has
  crippled huge hydroelectric dams,
  forcing cities to impose rolling
  blackouts and driving up the country’s
  use of coal.

  • HONG KONG — Car assembly plants and electronics factories in southwestern China have closed for lack of power. Owners of electric cars are waiting overnight at charging stations to recharge their vehicles. Rivers are so low there that ships can no longer carry supplies. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/26/business/economy/china-drought-economy-climate.html 2022-08-26

• 'Flash droughts' and weather
  'whiplash.' Welcome to New England’s
  climate future.

  • To put it bluntly, it kinda just stopped raining this summer. Parts of the northeast that typically get about 9 inches over June, July and August have gotten a fraction of that. Rivers are running low and many streams have gone dry or become a series of disconnected puddles. Lawns are crunchy, vegetation is shriveling and groundwater levels are plummeting. https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/08/26/climate-change-flash-drought-massachusetts 2022-08-26

• The World’s Rivers, Canals and
  Reservoirs Are Turning to Dust.
  Waterways have dried to a trickle
  thanks to droughts and heat waves that
  owe their origins to climate change.
  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-08-26/why-are-rivers-drying-up-climate-change-turns-waterways-into-dust
  2022-08-26

• Droughts and deluges show climate
  change’s doubled-edged impacts, from
  Texas to China The same area can get
  too dry, and then too wet, much too
  fast.
  https://www.grid.news/story/climate/2022/08/26/droughts-and-deluges-show-climate-changes-doubled-edged-impacts-from-texas-to-china/
  2022-08-26

• Record rain is hitting drought-
  stricken areas. That’s not good news.
  A warmer climate is driving
  precipitation to higher extremes in
  both flooding and drought.
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/08/25/weather-climate-drought-flooding-dallas-whiplash/
  2022-08-25

• Weather Whiplash: Parts of northern
  Texas, mired in a drought labeled as
  extreme and exceptional, are flooding
  under torrential rain. In a drought.
  https://apnews.com/article/summer-weather-whiplash-6d6858c5b0b90e8ce7fd61d85d7610f4
  2022-08-23

• From China to New York City, climate
  change is making drought conditions
  worse.
  https://news.yahoo.com/from-china-to-new-york-city-climate-change-is-making-drought-conditions-worse-192437550.html
  2022-08-22

• Climate change: Drought highlights
  dangers for electricity supplies
  https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62524551
  2022-08-13

• Europe’s heatwaves, droughts put focus
  on climate change risks Italy, Spain,
  Germany, Portugal, France, the
  Netherlands and the United Kingdom are
  enduring severe droughts this summer.

  • Italy’s worst drought in decades has reduced Lake Garda, the country’s largest, to near its lowest level ever recorded and warming the water to temperatures that approach the average in the Caribbean Sea. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/13/europes-heatwaves-droughts-put-focus-on-climate-change-risks 2022-08-13

• How climate change drives heatwaves
  and wildfires The searing heat is part
  of a global pattern of rising
  temperatures, attributed by scientists
  to human activity.
  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/24/how-climate-change-drives-heatwaves-and-wildfires
  2022-07-24