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Tag: extreme weather events

  • Twenty one Just Stop Oil supporters arrested

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    Just Stop Oil are demanding that the UK government halt any new licensing or consents for oil, gas and coal extraction in the UK.

    In an escalation of resistance from previous weeks, 180 Just Stop Oil supporters, in fourteen groups, began marching on key roads in central London. They marched in groups of between 5 and 25 supporters, carrying placards reading “new oil = murder”, “ hottest June ever” and “can’t eat oil”.

    Police followed numerous groups before marches began and stopped and searched dozens of people. Police began issuing Public Order Act (Section 12) notices at 8:10am, just minutes after the first march set off. Three Just Stop Oil supporters were arrested after 15 minutes of marching on Liverpool Street. Around twenty Just Stop Oil supporters were arrested as they attempted to leave Lambeth bridge, however 11 of these were de-arrested. The team in Victoria was removed by 8:35. Police were seen following marchers on the tube at 9:00am. Another two were arrested on Liverpool Street at 9:45. At 10:30 two were arrested on Victoria Street.

    Frances Davis, 20, from Norwich spoke to the camera as she was held in handcuffs:

    “I’ve been marching for just under 15 minutes and I’m under arrest for demanding the same thing as the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), the United Nations and the government’s own scientific advisors have been demanding- and we’ve just been ignored. We’ve tried everything else and now I’m in handcuffs, just for going on a march.”

    This morning’s marches come as extreme heat continues to ravage Europe and now 110 million people have been issued extreme heat warnings in the US, as a heat dome over the US south-west has translated into coast to coast alerts. Temperature records could be broken in as many as 38 cities. In Las Vegas security guards can be seen guarding the fountains of upscale casinos and hotels to prevent people from jumping in, whilst mobile clinics are reporting treating homeless people suffering from third-degree burns.

    Since the Just Stop Oil campaign launched on 14th February 2022, there have been over 2,200 arrests and 138 people have spent time in prison, many without trial. Just Stop Oil supporters Morgan Trowland and Marcus Decker are serving three-year prison sentences for resisting new oil, gas and coal in the longest sentences for peaceful climate action in British history.

    Juststopoil.org.

  • Cerberus heatwave: Why is it so hot in Europe and how long will it last?

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    https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/07/13/cerberus-heatwave-why-is-it-so-hot-in-europe-and-how-long-will-it-last

    Why is it so hot in Europe?

    Extreme temperatures have hit Europe this year as the world swelters through the El Niño weather pattern, and greenhouse gas emissions warm our climate.

    But the latest highs have been made worse by an anticyclone dubbed ‘Cerberus’. This area of high pressure started in the Sahara before moving across northern Africa and into the Mediterranean.

    The heatwave was named by the Italian Meteorological Society after the fiery-eyed, three-headed dog that guards the gates of the underworld in Greek mythology.

    How hot will Europe get?

    The Italian islands of Sardinia and Sicily could simmer in 48°C in the coming days, potentially reaching “the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe,” according to the European Space Agency (ESA).

    In August 2021, Sicily hit 48.8°C – the current record.

    Rome, Bologna and Florence are among the 10 Italian cities currently under red alert for extreme heat.

    Spain’s weather service said thermometers could potentially hit 45°C southeastern areas of the Iberian Peninsula, which are also under an alert for extreme heat. The temperature of the ground in parts of the country has hit more than 60°C.

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    https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/07/13/cerberus-heatwave-why-is-it-so-hot-in-europe-and-how-long-will-it-last

  • Floods, tornadoes, heat: more extreme weather predicted across US

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    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/13/more-extreme-weather-across-us

    Over a third of Americans under extreme heat warnings as Vermont, still recovering from historic flooding, prepares for more storms

    The US is bracing for more extreme weather from coast to coast, with a heatwave hitting California, tornadoes in the midwest and the east expecting more rain as it continues to reel from historic flooding.

    Residents of Vermont, still suffering from an onslaught of dangerous weather in recent days, are preparing for another round of severe storms in the area beginning as early as Thursday night.

    Historic flooding in the state has damaged thousands of homes, businesses and roads, and has left some residents stranded. One death was confirmed by the state department of health, a 63-year-old man who drowned in his home. More than 200 rescues and 100 evacuations have taken place as a result of the extreme storms.

    Across the US, more than a third of Americans were under extreme heat advisories, watches and warnings as the heatwave baking the nation spread further into California. The sweltering conditions were expected to build on Friday and through the weekend in central and southern California, where many residents were told to prepare for the hottest weather of the year by the National Weather Service.

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    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/13/more-extreme-weather-across-us

  • UK told to prepare for possible 30% increase in uncomfortably hot days

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    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/13/uk-told-to-prepare-for-possible-30-increase-in-uncomfortably-hot-days

    Britain and Switzerland among countries that need to adapt most for heating, says research looking at impact of 2C global rise

    The UK and Switzerland will see a 30% increase in the number of days of uncomfortably hot temperatures if the world heats by 2C, and are two of the countries which need to adapt the most for global heating, scientists have predicted.

    The research, published in Nature Sustainability on Thursday, found that while central Africa will see the most extreme temperatures overall, it is mostly northern European countries that will experience the greatest relative increases in uncomfortably hot days.

    The people and infrastructure in these countries are not prepared for periods of hot weather, the study, based on climate modelling and data from the UK Met Office, predicts. The estimates by researchers at the University of Oxford are conservative, and do not include external factors such as extreme heatwaves, which would come on top of this average increase.

    Norway will also suffer one of the world’s most dramatic increases in days that require cooling interventions, the study finds, with a 28% increase in days with uncomfortably hot temperatures if the world misses the 1.5C target. Eight of the 10 countries with the greatest relative increase in uncomfortably hot days are expected to be in northern Europe.

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    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/13/uk-told-to-prepare-for-possible-30-increase-in-uncomfortably-hot-days

  • ‘Uncharted territory’: UN declares first week of July world’s hottest ever recorded

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    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/11/uncharted-territory-un-declares-first-week-of-july-worlds-hottest-ever-recorded

    Extreme temperatures break records as scientists warn El Niño is set to get worse

    The beginning of July was the hottest week on record for the planet as a whole, according to the World Meteorological Organization. This year had already seen the hottest June on record, the UN body said, driven by climate change and the early stages of an El Niño weather pattern.

    It is the latest in a series of records halfway through a year that has seen a drought in Spain and fierce heatwaves in China as well as the US.

    “The world just had the hottest week on record, according to preliminary data,” the WMO said in a statement, adding that temperatures were breaking records on land and in the oceans, with “potentially devastating impacts on ecosystems and the environment”.

    “We are in uncharted territory and we can expect more records to fall as El Niño develops further and these impacts will extend into 2024,” said Christopher Hewitt, WMO director of climate services.

    “This is worrying news for the planet.”

    …

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/11/uncharted-territory-un-declares-first-week-of-july-worlds-hottest-ever-recorded