Tuesday 3 June 2014

Climate chaos

Monster sandstorm swallows Iran's capital Tehran, 4 killed


RT,
2 June, 2014


Record winds have created a massive sandstorm which hit Tehran on Monday, plunging the Iranian capital into darkness, damaging buildings, and killing at least four people.


The disaster struck at 5:10 p.m. local time, knocking out power supplies and sending residents to rush for cover. The wind, reported at 110 kilometers per hour, snapped trees and sweeped debris across streets.


The fatalities were caused by fallen trees, ISNA said. At least 27 others were injured, 10 of them in a road accident when the gloom suddenly descended, according to Amin Sabernia, Iran's chief emergency official.



"It was a horrifying storm and suddenly everywhere went dark," a shopkeeper in Tehran told AP news agency. "I closed my store's shutters to prevent damage. [A] big tree broke and knocked in the windows, shattering them."



Inside the massive sand storm today in Tehran that killed 5 & injured dozens, media report. Photos via @aaidin

The total number of deaths is unclear. Iranian state television said five were killed, while state-run Irna news agency said four died.
Residents were urged to stay indoors.




Storm disrupts electricity/water/internet in different areas across Tehran, @aaidin reports.
Iranians walk amidst dust as a sandstorm engulfs the capital Tehran on June 02, 2014. (AFP Photo / ISNA / Hamidreza Dastjerdi)
Iranians walk amidst dust as a sandstorm engulfs the capital Tehran on June 02, 2014. (AFP Photo / ISNA / Hamidreza Dastjerdi)

A sandstorm engulfs Tehran on June 02, 2014. (AFP Photo / Farhad Kabar Kohian)
A sandstorm engulfs Tehran on June 02, 2014. (AFP Photo / Farhad Kabar Kohian)




The trunk of a tree lies over a smashed vehicle following a sandstorm and record winds in Tehran on June 02, 2014. (AFP Photo / Str / Fars News)


More signs of climate chaos!

Signs Of Change The Past Week Or So 2014 (5) - May


The trunk of a tree lies over a smashed vehicle following a sandstorm and record winds in Tehran on June 02, 2014. (AFP Photo / Str / Fars News)


Stunning Photos Reveal Intensity of Wildfire Season’s Early Start



2 June, 2014


Over the last two weeks, California, Arizona and Alaska have all had to deal with severe wildfires that have surprised officials with their ferocity … and their earliness. Of the nearly one dozen blazes that ended up consuming well over 25,000 acres in heavily populated San Diego County two weeks ago, Carlsbad Fire Chief Michael Davis—a 27-year-veteran—said: “This is unbelievable. This is something we should see in October … I haven’t seen it this hot, this dry, this long in May.”


Here’s a sampling of what these three fires looked like, as captured in the lenses of local photographers:

Just as firefighters were struggling to contain the last of the Southern California burns, a second rash of fires erupted in a neighboring state: this time near Flagstaff, AZ. As of this writing, the so-called Slide fire has covered more than 25 square miles of that state’s most scenic and well-visited parkland. On or about that same day, a relatively small wildfire on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, south of Anchorage, began to build in intensity and started to spread; by the morning of Memorial Day it had grown to cover nearly 248 square miles—an area equivalent to the city of Chicago.

What do the three conflagrations have in common, other than their inability to wait for what we (perhaps foolishly) would like to think of as a seasonally appropriate starting date? All were helped along by catalysts such as the unseasonably high mid-spring temperatures andextraordinarily dry conditions that Davis cites, each of which scientists agree will become the new norm if we don’t act now to reverse the effects of climate change.



Footage Of Flood Hit 

Viyangalla, Sri Lanka



Over 7,000 people were affected and 15 people have died in Sri Lanka as heavy rains caused flooding and landslides in several areas in the island, the Disaster Management Center (DMC) said.

The western and southern regions experienced heavy rains with more than 100 millimeters within about an hour on Sunday and many areas in Western Province have been flooded due to the torrential rainfall, the DMC said.

According to the DMC low lying areas of Kalutara District, such as Agalawatta, Palindanuwara, Bulathsinhala, Matugama, Welipenna, Pelawatte, Omantha have been submerged by floods and hundreds of families have been affected. Seven deaths have been also reported due to cutting failures from the Agalawatta


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