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We Are in a Climate Emergency: Historic Floods in BC, Washington Follow Scientists' Warnings. "It definitely matches what the climate models show for the future around here—hotter, dryer summers and wetter winters... Our infrastructure isn't designed for that." After a summer that featured the "world's most extreme heatwave in modern history," which experts linked to human-caused global heating, the Pacific Northwest was inundated with floodwaters Monday, fueling fresh calls for ambitious action to combat the climate emergency.
The recent rain and subsequent flooding—which came on the heels of the COP26 climate summit in Scotland—led to evacuations, power outages, rescues, school closures, and stranded vehicles in Washington state and British Columbia, Canada. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee issued a severe weather emergency proclamation for 14 counties.....the severe storm with floods, landslides, mudslides, and the potential for straight-line winds is causing road closures,and there is a need to establish alternate transportation routes, evacuations, impacts to local utility services including significant power outages, localized reductions in available drinking water, and damage to homes and other public and private property and infrastructure." As NBC detailed....... "An atmospheric river—a plume of moisture that stretches across the Pacific and near Hawaii—has been aimed toward the region since last week, said Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik, an agricultural meteorologist at Washington State University. Beginning Thursday, a trio of storms tapped into that moisture and hammered areas north of Seattle and on Washington's Olympic Peninsula with driving rainfall. Atmospheric river patterns are not uncommon in the region, but the barrage of storms comes during a historically wet fall. And the flooding strikes a region that suffered a heat wave that set records in June, became smothered with wildfire smoke in August and remained abnormally dry for much of summer." "We were super hot and dry in the summer, and the switch flips. It definitely matches what the climate models show for the future around here—hotter, dryer summers and wetter winters," said Boomgard-Zagrodnik. "Our infrastructure isn't designed for that."
North of the U.S. border, Environment Canada meteorologist Armel Castellan told The Globe and Mail that two months of unusually heavy rains preceded the "very potent and strong" weather system that hit British Columbia this weekend. "The conditions… have been historic," Castellan said, "with many locations getting an average amount of rain for November in under 48 hours. "North of the U.S. border, two months of unusually heavy rains preceded the "very potent and strong" weather system that hit British Columbia this weekend. "The conditions… have been historic, with many locations getting an average amount of rain for November in under 48 hours." The atmospheric river rainstorm is one of the largest seen in the province, but the speed with which it has wrought destruction and disruption already makes it a monumental disaster and is bringing back memories of the widespread wildfires that took place over the summer. The newspaper added that "the entire town of Merritt, B.C., home to 7,000 people, evacuated their homes Monday morning, as water from the rushing Coldwater River breached its banks and filled up the streets of surrounding communities as though they were part of a stoppered bathtub."
See the article We Are in a Climate Emergency: Historic Floods in BC, Washington Follow Scientists' Warnings
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Severe drought that began in late 2019 continues to punish the region while experts say climate change and deforestation may be intensifying the phenomenon The Paraná River, which winds through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, has dropped to its lowest levels in 77 years as a severe drought that began in late 2019 continues to punish the region. Experts say the climate crisis and deforestation may be intensifying the phenomenon.The river experienced a temporary rise as Brazil released water from hydroelectric reservoirs for urgent electricity production but levels are rapidly falling. The drought has threatened water supplies in Argentina, driven up energy prices in Brazil, and helped drive rampant wildfires across the region. Paraguay, which has no coast and relies on its rivers for countless social, environmental, and commercial services, faces dire strain. "Paraguay is a landlocked country, and the river is an artery in its body that it depends on to live,” said Krivenchuk. Juan Carlos Muñoz, director of Paraguay’s National Shipping and Ports Administration Body (ANNP) said river transport is central to an economy primarily based on genetically modified soy exports. “We export commodities with zero added value: totally raw materials. River transport is by far the cheapest way of reaching international markets,” he said. The world’s third-largest river fleet moves 96% of Paraguay’s international imports and exports along two great waterways, the Paraná and the Paraguay, to and from ports in Argentina and Uruguay. The Paraguay River, which flows past Muñoz’s office in the capital Asunción, has dropped to its lowest ever level, further than the previous all-time low reached in 2020. With costs escalating, Muñoz said the shipping sector faces a loss of 20% of revenue – $100 million – for the second year running despite dredging initiatives. The government – which declared a state of emergency on the Paraná in July – has already raised the alarm over rising prices of imported products. https://www.theguardian.com/
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The phrase Global warming can potentially be confusing for people, because while the warming happens at a global level, there's obviously local extreme weather dynamics that don't always correlate with warming, said Emma Frances Bloomfield, an assistant professor of communication at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She pointed to the freak winter storm in Texas last month: Some scientists say that warming patterns in the Arctic are sending frigid polar air south more often, leading to periods of extreme cold in parts of the United States. Climate change itself has been criticized for sounding too neutral — after all, change is often a good thing. Since 2019, activists and media organizations like the Guardian have been amping up the sense of gravity around the isue, switching up the lingo with climate crisis, climate emergency, climate breakdown, climate disruption, and global heating. Describing our planetary problem as in crisis plays into the hysterical, alarmist climate change discourse, Bloomfield said. Still, she thinks the shift from global warming to climate crisis is a positive development.
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