Hi Everybody,
This is the second of my Red Alert Board Posts, the first was for 2022. Depending on the number of items and the news topics I hear about will dictate how often it gets updated. I will do backdated posts too if I hear relevant information on stories I have already covered.
4 January - California flooding. 180,000 homes and businesses have been affected.
- Bosnia. No snow at all on the ski resort due to the warm December. Europe experienced the warmest January ever - 10 'C.
6 January - The Great Bustard is being reintroduced into Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, UK. Russian eggs were brought here and a breeding colony has been introduced.
- There are calls to add nature information onto company accounts so that a record can be kept of the impact they have on wildlife.
10 January - Southern California is expecting more flooding and landslides after another 9 hours of rain fell on already saturated ground. 19 people have died.
13 January - 2022 is tied for the fifth warmest year on record. Source - NASA.
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/150828/2022-tied-for-fifth-warmest-year-on-record
14 January - Protesters, including Greta Thurnberg, were detained when they protested against the expansion of a German coal mine which would destroy a village. ,https://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2023/jan/14/germany-is-embarrassing-itself-greta-thunberg-joins-climate-protesters-at-lutzerath-video
I'm sure both the protesters and the police wish they were doing something more productive, but that's what you get when governments do not see the big picture, and just make knee-jerk reactions.
16 January - 3 metres of snow fell across the States following weeks of rain and flooding.
- UK Electric Car battery manufacturer start-up company British Volt goes into administration, laying off most of its workforce. Some are saying a lack of assistance from the UK Government has not helped the situation. They were due to pump £30 GBP into the company.
21 January - Four red squirrels being reintroduced into a forest in northern Ireland, with more to follow in England.
27 January - Flooding in Auckland NZ. Three feet of water in some places. Three people died.
3rd - 4th February - There were over 200 wildfires raging in Chile. 23 dead, and over 1,000 injuries were reported.
- New Hampshire, USA, new record low wind chill temperature, would have felt like -108'F.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/02/04/weather/winter-storm-northeast-new-england-saturday/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/04/nyregion/mount-washington-cold-new-hampshire.html
6th February - Cornish Lithium have a start-up company that aims to be able to extract Lithium from underground aquifers. It filters it out of the water, which is then treated at a waste company.
10th February - Islands of Abandonment by Cal Flynn - Life in the post-human landscape. How nature reclaims old areas and buildings.
20 February - San Paulo, Brazil - Landslides and flooding after record rainfall. 40 are dead.
An alligator was captured in Brooklyn Lake.
Korok, Afghanistan - Rains cause landslides which kill 13 people.
Chilie - Over a million hectares of trees were destroyed in fires which are still raging.
New Zealand - Cyclone Gabrielle is causing havoc, 11 are dead. Flooding has caused 4,500 out-of-contact. Looters are taking generators.
22 February - Belize has found a new way of making charcoal, This will stop deforestation there. (I did not see the full article.)
23 February - There are low river levels in Europe already. It is similar to summer. Venice canals have run dry. The Swiss Alps need 56 days of rain to resupply the rivers. Source - METRO.
27 February - Winter storms batter the USA. California has been hit for the first .time in 30 years. A similar situation is happening in the Balkans. Canada is having the third warmest winter ever. The World's largest skating rink will not open due to safety concerns over thin ice. The Canal Rideau will not be able to support the machinery and people that normally flock to the event. - Source EURONEWS.
Africa's Pangolin is under threat from animal poaching, which is on the increase, there are also problems with habitat loss. - Source EURONEWS.
3 March - Argentina - Fires cause blackouts across the country.
Andalucia - Wind turbines are being turned off when migratory birds are passing over to Africa, then turned on again. This has a negligible effect on the overall power supply. It takes one minute to turn them off. - Source BBC RADIO 4.
4 March - The Ocean Protection Treaty has finally been ratified. It protects 30% of the world's oceans.
9 - 11 March - Mozambique is hit with a return of the tropical storm for the second time. Mud huts have been washed away by flooding and landslides. Water sources have been contaminated.
24 March - A tornado in the USA killed 30 people in Mississippi and Alabama. It was a supercell, travelling at 100 km per hour. It covered a 100-mile-long stretch of devastation. - Source BBC News.
31 March - Another tornado hit Little Rock, Arkansas.
Oil production is being cut by 1 million barrels to raise prices for OPEC. Further cuts are expected.
12 March - Climate gasses have been reduced by about 5% as more UK energy is produced by renewable sources. - Source BBC.
14 April - Germany shuts down its last three nuclear power plants. France still has 6 active plants running.
17 April - The first partial flight of Starship 1. I was not aware of the fuel composition and the soot components that it would be spreading into the upper atmosphere, damaging the ozone layer. What with the satellite constellation problem, we seem to be getting unwanted consequences from these projects.
22 April - President Obama announces new emission capture laws. Source BBC.
25 April - Spain is 15 degrees hotter than usual. A new record April temperature was 38.8 'C. This is causing crop losses.
Italy is also having problems. Drought, Olive Oil and wine prices have shot up.
1 May - The Emirates are testing a "green" aviation fuel - SAF Sustainable Aviation Fuel was used to power one engine through a flight of an hour over the Dubai area.
3 May - Dry lake Tulare in Tulare County may be regenerating after high water events in the area. Source WION - Climate Tracker.
Update - The lake bed has been used for crops with levees around the edges to protect the two towns situated around the edge. Stratford and Corcrane. Source - Youtube.
A tornado flips cars on a freeway. Roofs were ripped off in the area. Source WION - Climate Tracker.
MEXICO - They are driving a rail track through forests containing destruction to cenotes and Maya ecosystems. Source WION - Climate Tracker.
4 May - If you voted GREEN in the UK local elections, I would just like to say a big THANK YOU. They won outright control in Mid Suffolk They have 481 seats in total, up by 241. Source BBC.
5 May - Rwanda flooding. Source - WION.
Spain - The wetland in Donna is drying out because of droughts. 60% of the lagoons have been lost. Source - WION.
Italy - Sea level surface temperatures have made a record rise. Topless protestors have blocked roads. They say not enough is being done. Source - WION. Bologna - Flooding.
India - They have announced that they will not be sanctioning any new coal mines.
6 May - CONGRATULATIONS to King Charles III and Queen Camilla on your Coronation. King Charles III is a staunch Eco Warrior. His estates in Cornwall have been Eco-friendly for many years. He has passed this mantle to The Prince of Wales. Source BBC.
7 May - Democratic Republic of Congo - Flooding, 400 killed. Source BBC.
9 May - Landslide at a mine traps over 100 men. At a gold mine near Kamituga town in the Democratic Republic of Congo collapsed on Friday amid torrential rain. Rescuers are digging through rubble after the incident, leaving about 50 people feared dead. Local officials say most of those feared dead are young people and have called for two days of mourning.
Source BBC.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-54132354
More information - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-49912811
The mine was not located on the Kamituga gold concession owned by Canadian miner Banro Corporation, the company’s chief executive said.
Source - The Guardian.com https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/11/at-least-50-killed-in-collapsed-gold-mine-in-east-congo-says-ngo
Video of some escaping in a similar collapse.
Source - CNN https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/03/28/congo-gold-mine-collapse-rescue-lon-orig.cnn
8 May - Alberta, Canada - 108 wildfires are burning, and a State of Emergency has been declared. Source SKY News.
11 May - Nigeria - Shell escaped liability for oil spills in Nigeria for years. Then four farmers took them to court – and won.
Source CNN https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/25/africa/shell-oil-spills-nigeria-intl-cmd/index.html
Above average UK rainfall. Source BBC
21 May - China suffering under a heatwave, and power grids are under pressure.
22 May - UK - The Lychen and Footman moths numbers have increased by 84,000 since the clean air Act was introduced in 1984. Source BBC 4 Radio.
23 May - 13.20 - Saw a fox in my back garden, going towards the top fence. Not much hair in its brush, sadly.
24 May - COP 28 will be chaired by a member of an oil company, who is an expert in finances - what a farce. Source BBC Radio 4.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/07/uae-oil-firm-cop28-climate-summit-emails-sultan-al-jaber-adnoc Source - The Guardian.
30 May - Saw a fox in my back garden, going towards the top fence.
4 June - German spruce forests are dying because of drought and beetles attacking the weak trees. It is not helped by being a monoculture cash crop. Farmers will get a subsidy if they replant mixed woodlands, but they worry about where the needed timber will come from. Source - BBC Radio 4.
4 June - Hati, Flooding and landslides. International aid requested. Gang violence is endemic in the area. Source - BBC Radio 4.
14 June - Scientists beam solar power from a satellite to a receiver in space and down to Earth. For full details, click the link below. Source - Space.com
23 June - Flooding in the streets of Oman.
4 July - The UK has recorded the warmest June temperatures since records began in 1881. Source: BBC Radio 4.
5 July - The World average air temperature topped 17 C for the first time on 4 July, reaching
17.04 'C, then on the 5 July reaching 17.18'C or 62.9'F.
Sadly this is in line with the predicted climate models. When will the Government people wake up and do something about it? When it is too late, as usual. Source - BBC.
I have posted this to my Facebook page to get better coverage. Make some noise, write to your Member of Parliament, and demand to know what they are doing NOW to help the situation. Show them that we expect action from them on this matter, not just vague woolly promises.
https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/515/environment-and-climate-change-committee/
9 July - The fox was back again today. Happily taking a snooze in the sun.
10 July - I have written to mine now - The Rt. Hon Lyam Byrne, Hodge Hill MP and The Right Hon. The Lord Deben, formerly Chairman of the Environment and Climate Change Committee.
USA, Londonderry - Berkes County flooding. 7 inches of rain fell and the river burst its banks. Part of the road was washed away. In Hudson Valley, one woman was washed away and drowned and 2 were rescued. Flooding in West Point. Historic buildings may be damaged.
SW Iceland - A volcano erupts NE of previous outpourings, 16.40 local time and lasts for 22 days.
11 July - Last year's summer heatwave killed 61,672 people. SOURCE - Barcelona Institute of Global Health, using data from 35 countries, 3,469 in the UK and 18,010 in Italy.
12 July - The fox was back again today. Happily taking a snooze in the sun and getting rid of some fleas.
Regards all,
Ivor Cogdell