Flooding

Climate Crisis and the Age of the Super-Typhoon: Storms batter, flood Puerto Rico, Pakistan, Japan and Shanghai

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A mere category 1 hurricane dumped so much water on Puerto Rico so quickly that one of its rivers has swollen to 25 feet above normal, even more than it rose during Hurricane Maria in 2017, which was a Category 5 hurricane. The island is beset by flash floods, and […]

Climate Crisis

2022’s supercharged Summer of Climate Extremes from Pakistan to USA: How global warming and La Niña fueled Unprecedented Disasters

The Conversation

By Kevin Trenberth, University of Auckland | – There’s an old joke about the fellow who has his left foot in a bucket of ice water and the right in a bucket of hot water, so that his overall temperature is average. That seemed to apply to the climate during 2022’s northern summer of extremes. […]

Climate Crisis

Working with Local Knowledge only way to save Pakistan from Flood Disasters

The Third Pole

By Daanish Mustafa | – ( The Third Pole) – How would a decolonised water perspective and practice mitigate the effects of the type of floods that Pakistan is witnessing in 2022? If decolonising water is about recentring the multiple layers of meaning and practice that are associated with water at the local and indigenous […]

Climate Crisis

As Climate Emergency unfolds, how can Pakistan combat future Mega-Floods and Droughts?

The Conversation

By Shahid Azam, University of Regina | – Pakistan is suffering from the aftermath of yet another massive flood covering about one-third of its landmass. This time it has affected more than 33 million people in the Indus River valley, with extensive damage to life, property, crops and livestock. The Indus River valley contains a […]

Climate Crisis

CO2 highest in a Million Years, Seas Rising, and a new “Ocean” arises in Flood-Hit Pakistan

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – CNN reports that satellite photos show that the overflowing Indus has created a new body of water in southern Pakistan some 62 miles (100km) wide. It will take days or weeks for the water to recede, and in the meantime millions are left homeless and over all, 33 million people […]

Climate Crisis

Pakistan: Climate Emergency-Driven, biblical Floods affect 33 million People Leave Millions Homeless

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Heavy flooding in southern Pakistan has destroyed or damaged 670,000 homes, according to Reliefweb. During an ordinary monsoon season in Pakistan beginning in June and ending in September, there would be four waves of precipitation. There have been eight such waves since June. Households in that country have an average […]

Antarctica

Warm Waters, Winds head for East Antarctica, threatening eventual Massive Sea Level Rise

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – I attended an academic conference once in Melbourne, Australia. I was strictly instructed to pronounce it mel-bun, and have complied. Australia is really far away from the Detroit area. I asked someone about the beaches to the south of the city, and what body of water they were on. Oh, […]

Climate Crisis

Top 3 Reasons Climate Change is creating Record-Breaking Deluges and Flash Floods

The Conversation

By Frances Davenport, Colorado State University | – A powerful storm system triggered flooding in the Appalachians in late July, inundating and sweeping away homes in the night and killing at least 16 people, Kentucky’s governor announced. The destruction followed flooding a few weeks earlier in the mountains of Virginia and Tennessee. In June, flooding […]

Arctic

Greenland loses 6 Billion Tons of Ice in Three Days, harbinger of Unprecedented Coastal Flooding

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – CNN and The Independent reported this week on a massive ice melt in Greenland, with on the order of 6 billion tons of ice lost in three days. The melting was because of a heat wave at the top of the world, caused by our burning coal, gasoline and methane […]