Weather Extremes
Summary:
Although some of us have been suffering the coldest and most snowy winter for 30 years (and I can assure you that I am definitely tired of shoveling snow), January 2010 was globally the hottest ever (based on global satellite data), and the past November-January as a whole is the hottest November-January the world has seen.
Western Australia has sweated through its hottest ever summer, recording average temperatures just shy of 30°C, weather officials said on Monday. Western Australia has been roasted at an average of about 29.6°C during the southern hemisphere summer, 0.2 degrees over the previous high in 1997-1998.
Hurricane-force winds, surging seas and driving rain lashed western Europe yesterday, Sunday 28 February 2010, leaving at least 53 people dead and more than a million households without power, while the Atlantic storm, "Xynthia", crashed against the western coasts of France and Spain overnight, bringing with it a band of foul weather stretching from Portugal to the Netherlands and inland as far as Germany. The bulk of the casualties were in France, where gusts of 150 km/h and 8 metre high waves battered the west coast, flooding inland and sending residents scurrying onto rooftops.
Officials in Mongolia have declared more than half of the impoverished country a disaster area due to harsh winter weather, as the UN on Thursday launched a programme to help struggling nomads. About 2.5 million livestock had perished nationwide as of Monday 22 February 2010, the government's State Emergency Commission reported, after weeks of persistent snow and temperatures below minus 50°C. The government estimates three million more will die before the cold weather ends in June.
Now that is part of global climate change to me. Global warming does not mean that we all get it 2 degrees (or whatever it will end with) warmer every month - the warming is global, and not local! It does however lead to new weather extremes over most of the world, like those we experience right now.
http://www.thefoxnation.com/climate-change/2010/02/26/huh-scientists-say-january-hottest-ever
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Sydney_sweats_through_hot_rainy_summer_999.html
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Death_toll_hits_53_as_storms_lash_Europe_999.html
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Extreme_winter_spells_disaster_for_Mongolia_999.html
Content analysis:
Geographic context:
| Location | Country | Latitude | Longitude |
|---|
| western Europe | FR | 45 | 0 |
| Western Australia | AS | -25 | 120 |
| Atlantic | OS | 10 | -25 |
| Portugal | PO | 39.5 | -8 |
| Europe | GM | 50 | 10 |
| Mongolia | MG | 46 | 105 |
| Spain | SP | 40 | -4 |
| Netherlands | NL | 52.5 | 5.75 |
| Germany | GM | 51.5 | 10.5 |
| France | FR | 46 | 2 |
Keywords:
atlantic storm, average temperatures, cold weather, disaster area, driving rain, foul weather, global climate change, global satellite data, gusts, harsh winter weather, hurricane force winds, new weather, rooftops, snowy winter, southern hemisphere summer, state emergency, weather extremes, weather officials, western australia, western coasts
