Extreme Temperatures
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Sun

Temperature extremes: China shatters all-time high temperature record with a sizzling 52.2C

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China recorded its highest-ever temperature on Sunday amid blistering heatwaves that have been shattering records all summer in the country and across the globe.

The remote Sanbao township in the Turpan depression of Xinjiang saw temperatures climb up to 52.2C.

Sunday's temperature broke the previous record of 50.3C, measured in 2015 near Ayding in the depression, a vast basin of sand dunes and dried-up lakes more than 150 metres below sea level.

China has been hit by a series of climate disasters this year with ongoing heatwaves shattering record after record, extreme rainfall prompting floods and landslides and tropical storm Talim making landfall on Monday.

The record 50C temperature comes after China's Mohe, in Heilongjiang province, recorded temperatures of minus 53C in January amid an extreme cold spell.

Better Earth

Best of the Web: Another 'unprecedented marine heatwave', this time around the coast of Florida

marine heatwave florida
© CNNSea surface temperatures around parts of Florida and the Bahamas are warmer than 90 degrees Fahrenheit, shown here in shades of purple.
A sudden marine heat wave off the coast of Florida has surprised scientists and sent water temperatures soaring to unprecedented highs, threatening one of the most severe coral bleaching events the state has ever seen.

Sea surface temperatures around Florida have reached the highest levels on record since satellites began collecting ocean data. And the warming is happening much earlier than normal - yet another example of ocean heat being amplified by the human-caused climate crisis and the extreme weather it brings.


Comment: Just over a month ago there was an 'unheard of' marine heatwave off UK and Irish coasts , could the two be related?At least in the case of the event near Ireland, the most reasonable explanation seems to be that this heat may have been emanating from the depths of the ocean: 19,000 previously unknown undersea volcanoes revealed by satellite data


"We didn't expect this heating to happen so early in the year and to be so extreme," Derek Manzello, a coordinator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coral Reef Watch, told CNN. "This appears to be unprecedented in our records."

Snowflake

Summer snow falls near Pennask summit in British Columbia

Snow fell near Pennask Summit of the Okanagan Connector Wednesday afternoon.
© Chris MoenchSnow fell near Pennask Summit of the Okanagan Connector Wednesday afternoon.
It's something drivers should be prepared for in May or even June, but in July?

Snow fell near Pennask Summit on Highway 97C, the Okanagan Connector, on Wednesday afternoon.

Chris Moench was on his way to go fishing in Kamloops and shared a photo. It shows slush on the road surface and snow covering the grass along the highway at about 4:15 p.m.

A severe thunderstorm warning was issued by Environment Canada for the area earlier in the day.

Moench said some people had pulled over and were playing in the snow. He said by the time he got to the Highway 5A turnoff at Aspen Grove, the snow had turned to rain.

DriveBC webcams images showed the snow the fell near Pennask Summit had mostly melted by 5 p.m.

Snowflake

4 feet of summer snow on road to Chandratal lake hindering evacuation of 293 stranded tourists in Himachal Pradesh, India

A video grab.
A video grab.
Heavy snow on the way to Chandratal Lake from Losar in Himachal Pradesh's Lahaul and Spiti district has proved a major deterrent for the district administration to evacuate the 293 stranded tourists out of the area safely for the past four days.

The tourists were stranded at Chandratal since Saturday due to blockade of road in the region.

On Tuesday, a rescue team comprising the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Border Roads Organisation (BRO) personnel, local youths and officials led by Kaza ADC Rahul Jain moved towards Chandratal from Losar, but heavy snow on the Losar-Chandratal road disrupted their access to the site.

The BRO started the snow clearing operation on the road on Tuesday and were able to restore only 12km of road from Losar towards Chandratal.

According to officials, 25-km-long road is still covered under thick blanket of snow upto Chandratal, where up to 4 feet of snow has been reported.


Better Earth

Massive marine bird deaths in North America revealed by citizen science surveys

puffins bird die off
© Aleut Community of St. Paul Island Ecosystem Conservation OfficeTufted puffins in October 2016.
Marine heatwaves off the coast of North America cause huge seabird die-offs, according to a study published in Marine Ecology Progress Series.

The study draws on data from four citizen science projects to examine coastal birds from central California, US, to Alaska, US, between 1993 and 2021.

"This is truly a global data set that asked a global-sized question: Does a warming world significantly impact marine birds, among the top predators in the nearshore marine environment?" says paper co-author Julia Parrish, a professor of aquatic and fishery sciences at the University of Washington, US.

"We find a dramatic delayed effect," she adds.

Comment: The data is showing that Earth isn't warming, it's cooling; but there are indeed marine heatwave events occurring, alongside a variety of other unusual and rare phenomena, that reveal our planet - and the solar system at large - is undergoing a significant, and potentially catastrophic, shift:


Snowflake

Snowfall in Johannesburg, South Africa for the first time in 11 years

For some children under the age of 11, this will be the first time they have ever seen snow
© ReutersFor some children under the age of 11, this will be the first time they have ever seen snow
Snow has fallen on Johannesburg for the first time in more than a decade.

The South African city woke up to snowflakes, rain and wind, with temperatures cold enough to keep the snow lying on the ground through the morning.

Photos show children wrapped up in coats and beanies, making snow angels on their school fields.

For some youngsters, today will be the first time they have ever seen snow.


Snowflake

Watch: 'Unexpected' summer snowfall covers village in Himachal Pradesh, India

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The entire village was covered with a thick layer of snow after it experienced the surprise snowfall on Sunday morning.

Losar village in Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh received an 'unexpected' spell of snowfall on Sunday as various parts of north India remain affected due to heavy rainfall.

The entire village was covered with a thick layer of snow after it experienced the surprise snowfall on Sunday morning.

"Losar village received an unexpected sudden snowfall on Sunday morning as various parts of north India are affected due to heavy rainfall," officials said.


Snowflake

Unexpected summer snowfall in Skardu, Pakistan breaks 18-year record

Snow in July is a sentence you don't hear everyday
© Qasim Butt.Snow in July is a sentence you don't hear everyday
Skardu's famed tourist spot, Deosai, has received unexpected snowfall in the past few days, giving the warm month of July a feel of winter.

Local authorities say that this is the first time it has snowed in Skardu in July in the last 18 years.

Temperatures have dropped in the Skardu valley and everything in sight is covered in white.

While the snowfall was unexpected, it has turned into a surprising delight for tourists hoping for a summer get away.


Arrow Up

Africa to the west: you are not hearing us!

For the first time in centuries, nations of the world have a choice. Tectonic changes lie ahead.

A very major event took place in Paris last week, only it got crowded out of the media coverage by Evgeny Prigozhin's weekend non-coup coup attempt in Russia. France's President Emmanuel Macron took the lead in bringing the global community together to develop a new financial architecture for the future and hosted the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact in Paris on 22 and 23 June. Among the attendees were many of the leaders of Western European, African and Latin American nations as well as the heads of the IMF, World Bank, US Department of the Treasury, the ECB and the European Commission.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa
© Alex Krainer's TrendCompassSouth Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa speaking at the Summit For a New Global Financial Pact in Paris, 23 June 2023.
We need a new financial pact because climate change...

The need for a new Global Financial Pact, supposedly, is due to the risk of climate change and the transition from fossil fuels to clean, sustainable energy sources. Western experts estimate that this transition will require an expenditure of about $1 trillion per year through 2030. That's a lot of money, but it is actually among the more moderate projections of what it will take to Build Back Better. Western leaders are proposing to fund the transition by levying a global tax. The specific objective with respect to climate would be to limit global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial levels. Presumably, the new financial architecture for the world would entail a global tax paid to a supra-national governing structure - perhaps the World Economic Forum's partner organization, the UN - who would use that money to fix the climate emergency for us and save the planet.

Snowflake

Falls Creek, Australia, has bumper weekly snow dump of nearly 3 feet

A great start into the school holidays at Falls Creek, Australia.
© Falls Creek Facebook PageA great start into the school holidays at Falls Creek, Australia.
Falls Creek, Australia, has seen a whopping 90cm (35 inches) of snow fall in the last seven days.

After a slow start to the season, which saw Falls Creek unable to open for snowsports on Opening Weekend, the weather gods have made up for it, taking the average depth at the Victorian ski resort to 97cm (38 inches).

The area saw a nice top up of 23 cm (9 inches) in the last 24 hours.