Climate crisis blamed as temperature records broken in three nations

Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands have recorded their highest ever temperatures as the second extreme heatwave in as many months to be linked by scientists to the climate emergency grips the continent.

 Water is sprayed on a taxiway at Schiphol
airport in Amsterdam during extreme heat.

The Dutch meteorological service, KNMI, said the temperature reached 39.2C (102.5F) at the Gilze-Rijen airbase near Breda on Wednesday afternoon, exceeding the previous high of 38.6C set in August 1944.

In Belgium, the temperature in Kleine-Brogel hit 38.9C, fractionally higher than the previous record of 38.8C set in June 1947. Forecasters said temperatures could climb further on Thursday.

Germany’s national weather service, DWD, said it believed a new all-time national high of 40.5C – 0.2C higher than the record – had been set in the town of Geilenkirchen near the Dutch and Belgian borders, but had still to confirm it.

Read the story from The Guardian by John Henley - “Climate crisis blamed as temperature records broken in three nations.”

Europe heatwave: Why are temperatures on the continent soaring?

France has recorded its all-time hottest temperature amid a European heatwave that has prompted governments to issue health alerts, urging people to keep cool.

Countries across Europe are sweltering under the heat.

Several people have lost their lives amid the soaring temperatures. The heatwave has also caused flash floods and forest fires, grounded planes and buckled train tracks, and led to school closures and warnings over air quality.

Temperatures in France reached a record 45.9C (114.6F) on Friday, as countries elsewhere in the continent continued to swelter under the heat.

In Germany, people are filling hot water bottles, placing them in freezers and then taking them to bed. France has set up temporary water fountains in built-up areas and is allowing public pools to open late into the night.

As the mercury continues to rise, experts tell the BBC what is behind the heatwave.

Read the BBC News story by Mal Siret - “Europe heatwave: Why are temperatures on the continent soaring?”

India's heatwave

New Delhi recorded its highest ever temperature of 48 degrees. 

An Indian resident takes it easy as he tries to escape the heat.

This is the darker side of an Indian summer.

Eleven of India's 15 warmest years have taken place since 2014.

The extreme heat has been blamed for deaths, especially amongst the poorest segments of the population, many of whom work outdoors and don't have the means or the right to take time off from their labour.

Listen to the ABC's South Asia Correspondent: Siobhan Heanue as she talks about “India’s heatwave”.

Australia just had its record warmest start to a year. Will winter turn it around?

Australia has just recorded its warmest start to a year, while the national water storage has fallen to its lowest level in five years at just 46.4 per cent of capacity. 

It has been a frosty lead-up, but what will winter proper hold?

We're not talking millennium drought levels just yet, but in Sydney water restrictions start from this weekend, and all capital city water storages are down from a year ago, bar Perth. 

Despite recent rain, and snow even in the past few days, soil moisture levels remain relatively low for large parts of the east and west coasts. 

So is this the winter when it could all turn around, when the skies open, the soil gets nicely damp and the dams fill?

The current outlook suggests not.

Read the ABC News story by Kate Doyle - “Australia just had its record warmest start to a year. Will winter turn it around?”

'Scorcher causes outage' - Shepparton News

In front of the airconditioner or at the pool, Shepparton residents tried their best to escape the oppressive heat on Saturday.

Shepparton recorded a top of 41.2°C and temperatures stayed hotter than 40°C from 2.30 pm to 7 pm and were still at 28°C at 11 pm, making sleep difficult.

Some people struggled more than others as 1800 Powercor customers in Greater Shepparton lost power about 7.30 pm, with power restored to properties progressively during the night, but some waited until yesterday morning.

A Powercor spokesperson said it looked like high loads because of the hot weather was the cause of the outage.

Country Fire Authority units had to extinguish a fire coming from an airconditioning unit at a Dhurringile home, believed to be caused by overheating at 4.20 pm. The home was not damaged.

Ambulance Victoria members were busy across the state and were called out to several cases of heat stroke and a number of near drownings during the day, but regional areas such as Shepparton had significantly less call outs than the city.

CFA District 22 operations officer Pete Dedman said many campfires were still lit across popular sites in the district on Saturday, despite repeated messages in the media highlighting the total fire ban day.

Teams from Forest Fire Management Victoria found a number of campfires being used unattended and others not properly extinguished.

‘‘Lucky no fires began from these campfires, but it ties up firefighting resources, all because people are not doing the right thing,’’ Mr Dedman said.

‘‘All solid fuel fires are banned.

‘‘People who enjoy camping need to understand use of fire and general rules around camping, they are easily found on Parks Victoria or Forest Fire Management Victoria websites.

‘‘They have an obligation to find this out, ignorance is no excuse with the amount of information out there.’’

Mr Dedman reminded people heavy fines and potential jail time were the penalty for those caught.

Read Declan Martin’s story from today’a Shepparton News - “Scorcher causes outage.”

Sydney hits its highest temperature recorded since 1939 with Penrith reaching 47.3C

Penrith in Sydney's west reaches a top of 47.3 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature recorded by a weather station in the Sydney metropolitan area in 79 years.

Sydneysiders are flocking to the beach to cope with the heat.

The temperature hit 47.3C at Penrith just after 3:00pm.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) early this afternoon said it had confirmed preliminary data and declared it was the highest temperature ever recorded by a weather station in the Sydney metropolitan area.

Read the ABC News story - “Sydney hits its highest temperature recorded since 1939 with Penrith reaching 47.3C.”

On Hurricanes and Hypocrisy

Floods have killed over 1,200 Nepal and Bangladesh in a disastrous South Asian monsoon. Meanwhile, Hurricane Irma, the most powerful storm ever recorded over the Atlantic Ocean, has destroyed 90% of structures on Barbuda making the nation ‘practically uninhabitable’. Millions of people have been displaced by the effects of climate change, and it’s only time before millions more will need to look towards finding a new home.

Haiti — Hurricane Matthew.

This, combined with the news of Myanmar’s religious genocide against the Rohingya Muslims, and the ever increasing death tolls in Syria and Afghanistan… there has never been a more appropriate time to demand that we in the West start welcoming people into our country. I believe it is, in fact, our moral duty to offer a home to those who seek asylum.

Read Katherine Sylwester’s story on Voices of the Revolution - “On Hurricanes and Hypocrisy.”

Florida facing its 'most catastrophic' storm ever, as Irma arrives

Florida faces the “most catastrophic” storm in its history as Hurricane Irma prepares to unleash devastating force on the state, including 120mph winds, life-threatening sea surges that could submerge buildings and an advance battery of tornadoes.

A street in Villa Clara, Cuba Hurricane Irma hit. Irma approaches
 Florida where many areas are under mandatory evacuation orders. 

“You need to leave – not tonight, not in an hour, right now,” Governor Rick Scott commanded in a press conference, 12 hours before the cyclone was expected to make landfall on Sunday morning. “This is the most catastrophic storm the state has ever seen.”

The US national hurricane centre said in its 8pm Saturday update on Irma that “heavy squalls with embedded tornadoes” were already sweeping across south Florida. The US National Weather Service later said the first hurricane-force wind gust had been recorded in the Florida Keys, a low-lying island chain off the state’s southern coast.

Irma dropped to a category three hurricane but could regain its category four intensity as the bathtub-warm seawater of nearly 32C (90F) will enable the storm to build strength.

Read the story by Oliver Holmes on The Guardian - “Florida facing its 'most catastrophic' storm ever, as Irma arrives.”

We Don’t Need a ‘War’ on Climate Change, We Need a Revolution

This year is on track to become the hottest ever recorded, and a growing number

Shoes representing protesters at the climate
talks summit in Paris last year.

of environmentalists are using a particular type of language in response. Some are calling for a huge “mobilization” to “combat” climate change. In an article in the New Republic in August, Bill McKibben, the unofficial spokesperson of the climate movement in the United States, insisted in very literal terms that, we are at war with climate change.
In the United States, we are familiar with war metaphors; and they are often politically useful. We have been through wars on poverty, drugs, cancer and even Christmas. In these cases, metaphors are understood as metaphors, but when McKibben points to territory ceded, space invaded, cultural loss and human suffering, he intends to be taken at face value: “It’s not that global warming is like a world war,” he writes. “It is a world war.”

War rhetoric serves a valuable function. It stresses the seriousness of the harm, its structural nature and the need to struggle against it. Wars require people to sacrifice and to share responsibility for a joint effort larger than individual preferences and comforts. They can also motivate solidarity: The goal of defeating the enemy orients all activity, and whatever may divide or distract us from achieving that goal must be put aside. In the rhetoric-bag of political discourse, “war” is a forceful weapon.

Read The New York Times story - “We Don’t Need a ‘War’ on Climate Change, We Need a Revolution.”