Extreme Droughts and Floods in Eastern and Southern Spain Extreme weather has ravaged Spain in the last couple of years. Torrential rains and deadly floods plagued eastern and southern Spain in December of 2016 resulting in ten fatalities, school and highway closures, and massive amounts of damage. Conversely, Spain experienced extreme droughts in 2016 and...
Category: Archives
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South Korea Extreme Weather Event
2016 Extreme Heat Wave The recent extreme heat wave in 2016 caused extensive damage to people, the environment and to the country as a whole. The damage can be seen in the agricultural sector, the maritime-fisheries sector, the environment/energy sector and on people’s health. Damage to the agricultural sector included death of livestock and plants...
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South Africa Extreme Weather Event
Severe Country-Wide Drought The current drought, which started in the summer of 2014, is the third-driest for South Africa as a whole since the early 1930s when the country was hit by a historic drought in the midst of the Great Depression. The severity of the current drought has been aggravated by an El Nino,...
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Saudi Arabia Extreme Weather Event
Extreme Rainfall and Flash Flooding in Jeddah City In 2009 and 2011, Jeddah City in the middle of the western region of Saudi Arabia experienced short, but intense rainfall events with rainfall precipitation values of 70 mml and 110 mml that led to flash floods. The World Bank climate adaptation expert, Balgis Osman-Elasha, defines an...
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Russia Extreme Weather Event
Upward Trend in Dangerous Climate Events In Russia, the forecast and monitoring of dangerous weather or climate events are a part of the state monitoring and reporting system. On an annual basis, the Federal Service of Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring develops and issues a Report on Climate Peculiarities on the Territory of the Russian Federation...
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Nigeria Extreme Weather Event
The Worst Flood in 40 Years Heavy tropical rains during the wet season in Nigeria, often followed by seasonal flash floods, sometimes lead to death especially in rural areas and overcrowded suburbs due to poor or non-existent drainage (Reuters, 2012). In 2012, Nigeria experienced what has been termed its worst flood in 40 years. The...
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Mexico Extreme Weather Event
Hurricane Patricia From a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in just a matter of hours, Hurricane Patricia astonished Mexico and the world on October 23, 2015, as it became the most intense tropical cyclone in the Western Hemisphere and one of the strongest storms ever recorded globally. After reaching the west coast of...
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Italy Extreme Weather Event
Storms, Rain and Flooding in Genoa In mid-October in 2014, strong storms dropped on the city of Genoa an unprecedented amount of rain, causing flooding and landslides. The storm system caused 3 deaths and millions of Euros of damages. There is no current comprehensive national strategy to address the irresponsible soil consumption at the root...
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Japan Extreme Weather Event
Typhoon # 10 The biggest natural disaster in Japan over the last three years was Typhoon No.10 in August 2016. It is known as Lionrock and is classified as a Category 4 typhoon. It severely damaged the Tohoku and Hokkaido regions in the northern part of Japan. According to AR5 produced by the IPCC, rising...
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Indonesia Extreme Weather Event
Widespread Fires Between June and October of 2015, 127,000 fires engulfed 2.6 million hectares of land in Indonesia, tripling its carbon emissions. Draining peatlands and mangroves for agricultural production was the main driver of Indonesia’s summer fires. These fires would not occur without human intervention. 40% of the fires in 2015 occurred on peatland. Peatland,...