WMO highlights world of weird weather

www.environmental-finance.com
London, 9 August:

Record extremes of climate and weather events have been recorded around the world since the beginning of 2007, according to the World Meteorological Organization. In a press notice, the WMO links these weather extremes to climate change, noting that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said that such events have become more frequent in the last half-century, and the trend looks set to worsen in the next half-century. "Climate change projections indicate it to be very likely that hot extremes, heat waves and heavy precipitation events will continue to become more frequent," the WMO said.

In January and April this year, average land temperatures rose to what are likely the highest level since records began, the WMO said. Temperatures were 1.89°C warmer than average in January, and 1.37°C warmer than average in April. Other examples of extreme weather include the Indian monsoon season. During the first half of the season (June-July), weather stations reported twice the usual number of monsoon depressions, causing heavy rainfall and flooding in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Meanwhile, the first ever documented cyclone in the Arabian Sea made landfall in Oman on 6 June, where it killed 50 people and affected 20,000 more. In China, floods and landsides caused 120 deaths and affected 13.5 million. Meanwhile, England and Wales saw the wettest May-July since records began in 1789, with floods causing nine deaths and at least $6 billion of damages.

Severe flooding also hit Mozambique in February, killing 30 and forcing the evacuation of 120,000 people. Heavy rainfall in Sudan since the end of June caused the Nile to breach its banks and damaged more than 16,000 houses. Uruguay was hit by the worst flooding since 1959 in May, which damaged crops and buildings and affected over 110,000 people. South-eastern Europe, meanwhile, was hit by two extreme heat waves in June and July. Temperatures soared above 40°C, breaking previous records and killing dozens of people. On 23 July, Bulgaria saw temperatures rise to a sweltering 45°C.