Latest news with #extremeWeather
Bloomberg
5 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
European Power Markets Brace for Extreme Heat Over the Summer
A cool, wet start to June in Northern Europe is set to give way to a summer of extreme weather, roiling energy markets that have become increasingly dependent on solar and wind power. High-pressure systems are forecast to return later this month, bringing the risk of heat waves this summer following an unusually dry and sunny spring. That will drive up power demand for cooling, though the impact on gas prices will also depend on surging solar generation and nuclear output levels in France.
Times of Oman
7 days ago
- Business
- Times of Oman
Over 75 per cent of households likely to face extreme weather in next decade: World Bank Report
New Delhi: More than 60 per cent of households and firms have experienced extreme weather in the last five years, and over 75 per cent are expected to face it in the next decade, a new report by the World Bank has revealed. In a new report titled 'From Risk to Resilience: Helping People and Firms Adapt in South Asia,' the World Bank has warned that South Asia is facing a sharp rise in extreme weather. Nearly 90 per cent of the population is expected to be exposed to intense heat by 2030, and more than one in five people is at risk of severe flooding. It said that much of the adaptation effort needs to come from the private sector, as public budgets are under pressure. A new World Bank report has outlined policy reforms that would help households and firms adapt to increasingly frequent and damaging weather events. In a press release, the World Bank stated, "Released today, From Risk to Resilience: Helping People and Firms Adapt in South Asia, finds that awareness of climate risk is high. More than 60 per cent of households and firms have experienced extreme weather in the last five years, and more than 75 per cent expect it for the next decade. Many households and businesses are already taking steps to adapt to climate risks." "Around 80 per cent of households and 63 per cent of firms have taken some measures to adapt. However, most of these measures are basic, such as raising house foundations or installing fans. More advanced options, like using climate-resilient seeds or relocating from high-risk areas, remain less common," it added. According to the report, market barriers and income constraints are holding back stronger adaptation. Households with more education or access to formal finance are more likely to adopt advanced strategies. In addition, better-managed companies with fewer regulatory barriers tend to be more adaptive and removing these barriers would allow more effective adaptation by households and firms. World Bank Chief Economist for South Asia, Franziska Ohnsorge, said, "Private sector adaptation could reduce one third of the region's projected climate damage, but this requires governments to strengthen enabling environments." "Adaptation is most effective when markets function well and when essential services like transport, water, healthcare, and digital connectivity are widely accessible," Ohnsorge added. The report called for targeted adaptation efforts and broader development measures that also build climate resilience. It noted that governments have a critical role to play, even with limited fiscal space. According to the report, the government can expand access to localised climate information, promote weather-indexed insurance, and support the use of resilient technologies such as energy-efficient cooling systems. World Bank Vice President for South Asia, Martin Raiser, said, "The urgency is growing. People and firms are already adapting, but they are doing so with limited tools and few resources." "Governments must act quickly to remove the barriers that prevent more effective adaptation. This includes removing distortions in land and labour markets, expanding access to finance and investing in public infrastructure to support people and businesses as they respond to climate risks," he added. The report noted that cities like Ahmedabad are leading with heat action plans to protect urban populations from rising temperatures. These plans demonstrate how targeted investments and effective institutions can successfully bolster local adaptation. The report called for policy action guided by three core principles - implementing a comprehensive package of adaptation measures, prioritising solutions that support both development and climate resilience and aligning adaptation strategies with long-term development goals to ensure lasting progress. In the release, World Bank Chief Economist for South Asia, Franziska Ohnsorge, said, "Private sector adaptation could reduce one third of the region's projected climate damage, but this requires governments to strengthen enabling environments."
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
How does hail grow to the size of golf balls and even grapefruit? The science behind this destructive weather phenomenon
Hail the size of grapefruit shattered car windows in Johnson City, Texas. In June, 2024, a storm chaser found a hailstone almost as big as a pineapple. Even larger hailstones have been documented in South Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska. Hail has damaged airplanes and even crashed through the roofs of houses. How do hailstones get so large, and are hailstorms getting worse? As an atmospheric scientist, I study and teach about extreme weather and its risks. Here's how hail forms, how hailstorms may be changing, and some tips for staying safe. Hail begins as tiny crystals of ice that are swept into a thunderstorm's updraft. As these ice embryos collide with supercooled water – liquid water that has a temperature below freezing – the water freezes around each embryo, causing the embryo to grow. Supercooled water freezes at different rates, depending on the temperature of the hailstone surface, leaving layers of clear or cloudy ice as the hailstone moves around inside a thunderstorm. If you cut open a large hailstone, you can see those layers, similar to tree rings. The path a hailstone takes through a thunderstorm cloud, and the time it spends collecting supercooled water, dictates how large it can grow. Rotating, long-lived, severe thunderstorms called supercells tend to produce the largest hail. In supercells, hailstones can be suspended for 10-15 minutes or more in strong thunderstorm updrafts, where there is ample supercooled water, before falling out of the storm due to their weight or moving out of the updraft. Hail is most common during spring and summer when a few key ingredients are present: warm, humid air near the surface; an unstable air mass in the middle troposphere; winds strongly changing with height; and thunderstorms triggered by a weather system. Hailstorms can be destructive, particularly for farms, where barrages of even small hail can beat down crops and damage fruit. As hailstones get larger, their energy and force when they strike objects increases dramatically. Baseball-sized hail falling from the sky has as much kinetic energy as a typical major league fastball. As a result, property damage – such as to roofs, siding, windows and cars – increases as hail gets larger than the size of a quarter. Insured losses from severe weather, which are dominated by hail damage, have increased substantially over the past few decades. These increases have been driven mostly by growing populations in hail-prone areas, resulting in more property that can be damaged and the increasing costs to repair or replace property damaged by hail. A lot of people ask whether the rise in hail damage is tied to climate change. My colleagues and I analyzed four decades of hail environments and found that the atmospheric ingredients to produce very large hail – larger than golf balls – have become more common in parts of the central and eastern U.S. since 1979. Other studies that considered formation factors of hail-producing storms or looked at radar estimates of hail have found limited increases in large hail, predominately over the northern Plains. There are a couple of primary hypotheses as to why climate change may be making some key ingredients for large hail more common. First, there has been an increase in warm, humid air as the Earth warms. This supplies more energy to thunderstorms and makes supercooled water more plentiful in thunderstorms for hail to grow. Second, there have been more unstable air masses, originating over the higher terrain of western North America, that then move eastward. As snowpack disappears earlier in the year, these unstable air masses are more apt to form as the Sun heats up the land faster, similar to turning up a kitchen stove, which then heats up the atmosphere above. Climate change may also lead to less small hail and more large hail. As the atmosphere warms, the freezing level moves up higher in the atmosphere. Small hail would be able to melt completely before reaching the ground. Larger hail, on the other hand, falls faster and requires more time to melt, so it would be less affected by higher freezing levels. Additionally, the combination of more favorable ingredients for large hail and changes in the character of hailstorms themselves might lead to an increase in very large hail in the future. Being caught in a severe thunderstorm with large hail falling all around you can be frightening. Here are some safety tips if you ever wind up in such a situation: If you're driving, pull over safely. Stay in the vehicle. If you spot a garage or gas station awning that you can seek shelter under, drive to it. If you're outside, seek a sturdy shelter such as a building. If you're caught out in the open, protect your head. If you're inside, stay away from windows and remain inside until the hail stops. Dealing with the aftermath of hail damage can also be stressful, so taking some steps now can avoid headaches later. Know what your homeowners and car insurance policies cover. Be aware of roof replacement scams from people after a hailstorm. Also, think preventively by choosing building materials that can better withstand hail damage in the first place. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Brian Tang, University at Albany, State University of New York Read more: Extreme heat waves aren't 'just summer': How climate change is heating up the weather, and what we can do about it What causes lightning and how to stay safe when you're caught in a storm – a meteorologist explains Why insurance companies are pulling out of California and Florida, and how to fix some of the underlying problems Brian Tang has received funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Risk Prediction Initiative.
ABC News
26-05-2025
- Climate
- ABC News
Gale-force winds to hit flood-affected parts of NSW as cold front approaches
Gale-force winds are expected to hit parts of New South Wales that are still reeling from the effects of record flooding. National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) deputy coordinator-general, Joe Buffone, told reporters at the National Situation Room in Canberra today that attention had now turned to a cold front moving through South Australia and Victoria. He said the front would also impact southern and eastern NSW. "The main focus there is about wind, and the concern is about many trees going down," Mr Buffone said. A gale warning is in place for the Eden Coast today, and that will extend to the Batemans, Illawarra, Sydney, Hunter and Macquarie coasts tomorrow. Winds of up to 75 kilometres per hour are expected in some offshore areas. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said people needed to use common sense if they were in a flood-affected environment. "There are still risks out there," he said. "The ground is really, really wet. You combine that with heavy winds, you combine that with trees and other structures … more vulnerable than usual [and] they just come over. The prime minister said Australia was getting "far too much experience in dealing with extreme weather events". "The science told us that there would be more frequent events and they would be more intense, and that is what we are seeing," he said. Mr Albanese said the record-breaking floods on the Mid North Coast had left a human, environmental and economic impact on the region. But he said it was too early to put an exact figure on the cost. "We know it is substantial," Mr Albanese said. "We know also that what we don't do is go through with a calculator. "What we do is say, 'If it is needed, we will support you,' simple as that." Mr Albanese said there would be 70 Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel on the Mid North Coast from tomorrow. "Helping with recovery, helping with clean-up as well," he said. "An event such as this has a physical impact clearly on people, but it also has a mental health aspect. "From my experience, the presence of ADF personnel on the ground brings enormous confidence to communities that are really doing it tough." Recovery centres offering advice and support to those affected by the floods will open across the Mid North Coast and Hunter regions from tomorrow. The Taree Recovery Centre will open at 10am on Tuesday at the Manning Uniting Church. On Wednesday, similar centres will open in Kempsey, Port Macquarie, Macksville and Maitland. NSW Minister for Recovery Janelle Saffin told 702 ABC Radio Sydney that authorities would be on hand to help flood victims replace IDs and personal documents such as birth and marriage certificates, Medicare cards and citizenship papers. "Even though we are still in a response phase with the SES in command … we're working side-by-side," she said. "The Reconstruction Authority is setting recovery up as we go … and there'll be a formal handover to recovery later in the week." About 12,000 people remain isolated across the Mid North Coast, where more than 600 volunteers have formed a community flood response group to help wash out homes and support residents. Local volunteer coordinator Holly Rankin said the group would follow the lead of emergency services. "It's not the community's responsibility to lead these efforts," she said. "We're working in behind the official efforts, but we're doing everything we can to mobilise our community in an organised way that is safe. An estimated 1,200 businesses and homes remain without power across the Mid North Coast, but supplies were starting to arrive in the region after all lanes of the Pacific Motorway near Taree were reopened yesterday. SES Kempsey unit commander Greg Steele said road closures and power failures have made things difficult for volunteers. "Normally, the resupply wouldn't be quite so difficult, however we've had a power failure in the CBD," he said. "There's no local suppliers currently to draw food stocks from."
CBC
23-05-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Why Quebec is prone to landslides — and why it could see more
There are about 100 landslides every year in the province, according to government data. They occur more often in clay-rich soil near waterways and are more common in spring and fall, as well as during extreme weather.
