Weather

Extreme weather is causing rivers around the world to dry up. See 6 images from space

CNN
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A sticky situation is one that you can’t escape from. If the river is in the northern hemisphere, the paddle may not be of any help.

The US, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East are suffering from a severe lack of rain and unrelenting heat waves that are drying up their rivers. Many rivers are shrinking in both length and breadth. It is common to see riverbed patches sticking out above the water. Some rivers have become almost impassable due to their extreme desiccation.

Extreme weather is a result of the human-caused climate crisis. This is affecting not only rivers but also people who depend on them. The planet’s population depends on rivers in one way or another, whether it is for drinking water, irrigating food, or shipping goods.

See how six of them appear from space.

The Colorado River is drying out at its banks and thinning out as a drought in the US West continues. Two of the country’s largest reservoirs are crucially maintaining the river. To protect the river basin, the government has ordered mandatory water cuts and asked states for additional plans.

Slide right to view the Colorado River in July 2000. Slide left to view it in July 2022.

Lake Mead is one of those reservoirs that is shrinking as its water levels drop towards “dead pool” status. This refers to the point at which the reservoir will not be high enough for water to flow downstream through a dam. Since 2000, the lake’s water levels have been declining but have seen a sharper decline since 2020. The lake has fallen so low that wild discoveries, including human remains in a barrel, have been made. This is a possible victim of homicide from decades ago. The consequences of the Colorado River crisis have been devastating: Nearly 40 million people in seven US states and Mexico depend on the river for their water supply, including drinking, electricity, and agriculture.

Slide right to view Lake Mead in the summer 2000, and slide left for the summer 2022.

The Yangtze River in Asia is now drying up at its banks, and its bed is beginning to emerge in some areas. It’s the Yangtze’s tributaries, however, that are already extremely dry. China has issued a nationwide drought alert, the first time it has done so in nine years. The heat wave is also its longest in six generations.

Slide right to view the Yangtze in August 2021 and slide left in August 2022.

The drying Yangtze had a huge impact. Hydropower accounts for about 80% of the electricity generation in Sichuan, a province with 84 million inhabitants. Most of that power comes from the Yangtze River. As its flow slows down, it has caused power generation to drop, causing authorities in Sichuan to shut down all its factories for six days. According to state news agency Xinhua, the province is getting half the rainfall it normally receives and some reservoirs are dry up completely.

The Rhine flows from the Swiss Alps to Germany, then through Germany and the Netherlands before reaching the North Sea. Although it is a vital channel for European shipping, it is difficult to navigate right now.

Parts of the river’s bed have risen above the water’s surface. Ships trying to pass it must navigate around these obstacles, slowing down the whole process.

Slide right to view the Rhine in August 2021 and left to view it in August 2022.

There are many gauges on the Rhine, including in Kaub, west of Frankfurt, Germany. Here, water levels have dropped to 32 centimeters (12.6 inch) over the course of the journey. Shipping companies consider anything below 40cm on Rhine too low. In Kaub, a container ship with a load of less than 75cm must reduce its load to 30% according to Deutsche Bank economists. Shipping costs are also higher due to low water levels.

The River Po runs right across the tops of Italy and flows east into the Adriatic Sea. It is fed by snowfall in the Alps in winter and heavy rain in spring. The steep fall creates a rapid flow. This river is more vulnerable to floods than others.

Now, however, the Po is very different. The winter was dry in northern Italy so snow didn’t provide much water. Spring and summer were also dry, causing the worst drought the region has seen in seven decades. It is so dry that a World War II-era bomb was found among its shrinking waters.

Slide left to see the Po in August 2021 and slide right to view it in August 2022.

Millions of people depend on the Po for their livelihoods, mainly through agriculture. This is a big problem. It produces 30% of Italy’s food, and some of its most famous exports, such as Parmesan cheese are made here.

The Loire, France is home to some of the most famous wines in the world. The river runs for 600 miles and is France’s last wild river. It supports biodiverse ecosystems throughout its valley, which is protected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Although some sections of the river are already quite shallow, its flow and levels can change quickly due to weather changes and melting snow. Some sections are so dry from extreme heat and lack of rain that it is possible to cross them by foot.

Slide right to view the Loire in August 2021 and slide left in August 2022.

Satellite images taken from Saumur, France show that there is more riverbed than water in the Loire. The valley’s patches of land are mostly brown and wilted — they were lush and green a year ago. Authorities are releasing water from the dams into rivers to cool four nuclear power stations that lie along the river.

The Danube, the longest river in Western Europe, is a vital shipping channel that runs through 10 countries. Workers in Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria are digging the river to make sure vessels can still navigate it.

Slide right to view the Danube in August 2021 and slide left in August 2022.

Although it’s not as bad as other European rivers, the effects of the Danube’s destruction are already being felt in countries like Hungary, which are heavily dependent on the river for their tourism. Some cruise ships were unable to cross the river to reach Hungary. Because of the many stations that have had to close due to falling river levels, those still running can’t stop along their normal routes. According to the country’s tourist board, an average 1,600-ton vessel is able to navigate the Hungarian stretch with no cargo.

This report was contributed by Julia Buckley, Angela Fritz, Laura He, Rachel Ramirez, and journalist Barbie Nadeau.

Weather

Two people were killed by lightning in Assam, Orange Alert issued

Two people were killed by lightning at two different places in Assam on Wednesday as thunderstorms hit different parts of the state.

An Orange Alert has been issued in six north eastern states.

Guwahati:

Two people were killed by lightning at two different places in Assam on Wednesday as thunderstorms hit different parts of the state.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura from yesterday till March 17 with a forecast of rain and thunderstorm.

One person was killed in Darrang district, while another died in Kamrup (Metro), an Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) report said.

In the first incident, a 60-year-old man identified as Majuruddin was killed after being struck by lightning in Darrang’s Kharpori village.

The ASDMA said that a minor girl, Mamta Begum, 13, died due to a lightning strike in the Satgaon area in Guwahati.

According to the Regional Metrological Centre in Guwahati, one or two spells of light to moderate thunderstorms with hail is likely to occur in Guwahati over the next two days.

Weather

Tamil Nadu witnesses heavy rain, 2 killed in Chennai

It was record rains for Chennai and its suburbs on Tuesday that began overnight, leading to inundation in a string of localities in city and on the outskirts, while two persons were killed in rain…

Tamil Nadu Rains: The Northeast monsoon rains commenced in Tamil Nadu on 29 October. (Representational)

Chennai:

It was record rains for Chennai and its suburbs on Tuesday that began overnight, leading to inundation in a string of localities in city and on the outskirts, while two persons were killed in rain related incidents.

For the first time in three decades, Nungambakkam, a core city area recorded 8 CM in a single day and suburban Red Hills 13 CM followed by 12 CM in Perambur, also in the city.

There was widespread rainfall in Tamil Nadu and showers ranged between 1 CM to 9 CM, which includes Cauvery delta areas and coastal regions like Kanyakumari. The Northeast monsoon rains commenced in Tamil Nadu on 29 October.

In view of the rains, two subways were closed here and the city witnessed traffic congestion and slow movement of vehicles.

Chief Minister M K Stalin chaired a virtual meeting of top officials on monsoon preparedness and instructed officials to work in cohesion and directed them to take swift action on complaints.

As regards Chennai city, 8 CM of heavy rainfall was recorded on November 1 at Nungambakkam and it is the first highest in the past 30 years and the third such record in the last 72 years, Deputy Director General of Meteorology, Regional Meteorological Centre, S Balachandran told reporters. In 1990, the city witnessed 13 CM rainfall and it was 11 CM in 1964, both on November 1.

Several stretches near the arterial Anna Salai here, the congested parts of busy north Chennai, sleepy neighbourhoods tucked away in the southern and northern regions of the city and suburbs witnessed inundation. Similar was the scenario in several other parts of the State.

While a man was electrocuted here last night, a woman died after portions of a residential building collapsed in the city’s northern area of Pulianthope. A cow died of electrocuted in the suburb. Water entered houses in low-lying areas in some parts of north Chennai.

In at least 8 districts including Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Chengelpet, a holiday was declared for schools.

A weather bulletin said a cyclonic circulation lay over north Sri Lanka and its neighbourhood at lower levels and a “trough runs from this system to southeast Arabian sea.” Northeasterly winds continue to persist along and off North Tamil Nadu and adjoining coastal areas.

Municipal Administration Minister K N Nehru said that 75 per cent of storm water drain work has been completed in Chennai Corporation areas. Several areas that used to witness inundation in the past like the midtown GN Chetty Road have not seen waterlogging in view of drain improvement work, Mr Nehru said.

Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments P K Sekar Babu also listed localities that had witnessed flooding during monsoon in previous years (during the AIADMK regime). He underlined that in view of implementation of upgradation and improvement of storm water drain work there was no water stagnation in flooding-prone localities.

Greater Chennai Corporation authorities inspected several areas and said that there was no rain water stagnation in localities like KK Nagar in view of preparatory measures and storm water drain work. Flood monitoring cameras have been installed by authorities in localities vulnerable to flooding.

In view of the ongoing storm water drain improvement work and Chennai Metrorail phase-2 project, barricades have been put up in many stretches of roads. While such infra-initiatives have already made traffic congestion the order of the day, the rains and waterlogging are the fresh woes people face during the monsoon.

Mr Balachandran said that from October 1 to November 1, Chennai District received 20 CM rainfall while the average for this period was 28 CM and it is 29 per cent less than normal. However, when the period between 1 to 31 October is considered, the city received 14 CM showers while the normal was 27 CM which was 48 per cent less than normal. The current spell of rain, in a single day, has narrowed that gap by 18 per cent.

For the next 3 days, most areas in Tamil Nadu Puducherry-Karaikal are expected to receive moderate rainfall, he said. During the next 24-hours, some places in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Chengelpet, and other northern districts including Vellore could witness heavy to very heavy downpour.

A couple of areas in districts falling under Cauvery delta zone, Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga may also witness heavy rainfall. Fishermen are advised to not venture into sea.

Weather

Philippines storm Nalgae kills many in floods or mudslides

Tropical storm Nalgae wreaks havoc in the southern Philippines and will soon lash Manila.

A severe tropical storm has claimed more than 70 lives in the Philippines. It unleashed floods and landslides across southern provinces, according to officials. The city of Cotabato is experiencing heavy flooding. In the north, Nalgae is expected to bring torrential rain. The storm winds are blowing at speeds of up to 95km/h (59mph). The Coast Guard has suspended ferry service in large parts of the archipelago where many people travel by boat daily. Many people are being evacuated to shelters by the Coast Guard. Heavy rains began on Thursday.

Weather

Hurricane Ian: Death toll rising as storm strengthens

As flooding traps people in their homes, the storm is now taking aim at South Carolina.

At least 10 people have died in Florida and the death toll is expected to rise, as Hurricane Ian continues to strengthen, officials have said.

Joe Biden has warned the category one storm could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida’s history, with a “substantial loss of life”.

Ian is now moving inland and “taking aim” at North and South Carolina, the National Hurricane Center says.

A blackout is affecting some 2.2 million Florida homes and businesses.

The flood waters have been so severe they have trapped some people in their homes, officials said, with the National Guard going door to door in the city of Orlando to rescue those stranded.

The 10 deaths that have have been confirmed were all in the south-west Charlotte County, which saw intense winds.

Joseph Tiseo, a local commissioner, told the BBC the area had a “tremendous wind event that lasted for 12 hours straight… it was brutal”.

He said said it was not yet clear how many of the deaths were a direct result of the hurricane.

Fort Myers devastation: ‘Worst storm surge I’ve seen’In pictures: Floridians take in Hurricane Ian’s impact

A little further south, Lee County took the brunt of the storm surge.

The state’s Governor Ron DeSantis told a news conference on Thursday evening that the damage in Fort Myers, a harbourside city there, was “almost indescribable”.

“To see a house just sitting in the middle of Estero Bay, literally must have gotten picked up, flown because of the massive wind speed and the storm surge and deposited in a body of water,” he said.

“I would say the most significant damage that I saw was on Ford Myers Beach, some of the homes were wiped out, some of its was just concrete slabs”

One woman who lost her home said the experience is “numbing” and has her feeling “overwhelmed”.

“It’s not my first hurricane but it’s my first total loss,” Karen, who lives on San Carlos Island in Fort Myers told Reuters.

Some residents had to swim out of their homes.

“You have to either swim or drown,” an Orlando woman told CBS News, the BBC’s partner in the US.

A woman in Fort Myers, who swam to safety when her ground floor apartment began to flood, said when she returned home she “had to wait about five minutes for all the floodwaters to come out”.

And at the Sun Seekers mobile home park in North Fort Myers, residents recounted their terror as they tried to protect themselves with blankets.

“It was terrifying, because you’re helpless”, one of the residents, Kim said. “We had no [phone] service to call anyone, but no one would have come anyway.”

Image source, Getty Images

At the governor’s briefing, Kevin Guthrie, director at the Florida Division of Emergency Management warned about “indirect deaths” – the fatalities that can happen after a storm system has passed.

He warned homeowners to watch out for power lines mixed in trees and said no one should be tinkering with generator sand chainsaws, or climbing ladders without proper training.

“People need to be extremely careful,” Mr Guthrie said.

“If you do not know how to use a chainsaw. If you do not know how to climb a ladder. If you do not know the difference between a cable line and a power line, you should not be doing that.”

Some parts of Naples, a seaside city south of Fort Myers, have been rendered a dark and deserted ghost town, and the city’s iconic pier has been smashed in half.

The BBC’s Bernd Debusmann, who is reporting from Naples, says a concession stand – which just days ago marked the halfway point on the pier – now stands precariously over the water, with splintered pieces of wood hanging off.

About a block from the beachfront, some roads remain impassable and underwater, while others have been left covered in mud as the slowly water recedes.

Hurricane Ian hit Cuba first, causing a total blackout in the country on Tuesday.

Meanwhile in Puerto Rico, the massive clean-up effort continues, after the hurricane hit the Caribbean island last week.

There was also a power blackout there, and ten days on, more than 269,000 households are still without electricity, according to poweroutage.us.

Puerto Rico was already reeling from Hurricane Fiona, a category one storm that hit just days earlier, on September 18.

As Hurricane Ian rolls on and attention moves to Florida, many on the island are worried about being forgotten.

“To the people of Puerto Rico, we have not gone away,” President Biden said on Thursday, speaking at the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) in Washington DC.

“I am committed to you and the recovery of the island, we will stand by you no matter how long it takes to get it done.”

As flooding traps people in their homes, the storm is now taking aim at South Carolina.

Weather

US points finger at Russia over gas pipeline sabotage

The US claims that Russia is responsible for the leaks in the Nordstream pipelines this week. Jennifer Granholm, US Energy Secretary, said that an investigation was underway into the matter. “It’s highly unlikely that these incidents were coincidences,” she stated, without citing any evidence. According to Mike Fulwood, the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, “It’s most likely some kind of sabotage.” Although accidental damage is possible in rare cases, it is unlikely that there would be any pipeline rupture or leakage. An anchor being dropped and dragged across the pipeline is the most likely cause of accidental damages,” he said. However, it doesn’t sound like an accident, Professor Russell Johns, Penn State University energy engineering expert, stated that the high water pressure at sea makes it difficult to detonate. He said that it is unlikely that Russia detonated its own pipeline. They could have cut off gas to the pipeline’s entrance if they wanted to halt supplies. Russia continues to receive money for fossil fuels, which is funding its invasion of Ukraine. “Unreliable energy partner” The gas escaping from the pipeline near Bornholm, Denmark, has been there since September 1, when Moscow shut it off. It claimed that the pipe was a vital conduit for Europe’s energy supply. Ms Granholm suggested that the energy relationship between Russia, Europe and Asia was being relegated to history. She said that Russia had proven itself to be an unstable energy partner. “No country would want to risk putting a substantial amount of its energy needs to Russia’s supply. This will help the EU to become energy independent by using clean energy. The war in Ukraine has had a significant impact on global energy prices. They have been the largest contributor to the soaring inflation in the UK and Eurozone, which has threatening global economic growth. Ms Granholm spoke from the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Ministerial conference in Vienna. “Every country is examining the risks of putting too much eggs in one basket, or putting too much eggs in the basket petro-dictators and volatility of fossil fuels that result from that. Everyone is trying to find ways to be energy independent. Image source: ReutersPetrol price reductionsThis year’s sharp rises in oil and gas prices have benefited the energy giants that get them to consumers. The oil price rises this year have benefited the energy giants who get them to consumers. We don’t want this huge amount of profit to trigger consequences, either Congressionally, or elsewhere. That will not be in their best interest. We want them to be responsible and not buy back shares, but increase production. This would eventually reduce prices due to increased supply. We are looking into legislative tools and other means of putting pressure on them. “Image source: Reuters. The US could also help increase oil supply to global markets by lifting sanctions imposed against Venezuela by President Trump. The South American country has the largest oil reserves in the world, but has been exporting very little oil due to the restrictions. They were imposed due to alleged corruption and political fallout from the 2019 contested election. A rise in global oil supplies would likely lead to a drop in global oil prices. Ms Granholm did not dismiss the idea of lifting the sanctions. She replied, “I’m certainly not going to get ahead the White House on this.” You can watch Jennifer Granholm’s interview on Talking Business with Aaron Heslehurst in its entirety on Talking Business.