It's Climate Change I tell'ya!! IT'S CLIMATE CHANGE!!

[spaminator]

Wildfires raze neighbourhoods, force 60,000 to evacuate in Spokane, Washington
About 60,000 people within Spokane's city limits have been evacuated under the authorities' highest-level alert

Author of the article:AFP
AFP
Published Aug 03, 2026 • Last updated 20 hours ago • 3 minute read

A Virgin Mary statue
A Virgin Mary statue remains untouched in front of a burned out residential home in the Balboa neighborhood of Spokane, Washington, on August 2, 2026. Photo by Erick Doxey /AFP

SPOKANE, Washington — Wildfires supercharged by drought and intense heat tore through Spokane, forcing the evacuation of 60,000 people as hundreds of buildings were reduced to cinders and firefighters raced Monday to contain the flames.


Some 600 structures have been damaged or destroyed while none of the 7,708 acres (3,119 hectares) burned by three fires in the Spokane area in the state of Washington have been contained, according to InciWeb, a federal interagency information system.

Local officials said so far no one has been reported hurt.

Cooler temperatures were expected Monday and Tuesday, though the respite will be brief, with “a warming trend building into the area Wednesday through Friday as temperatures will rise into the mid to high-90’s with relative humidity in the lower teens,” InciWeb’s latest update said.

Video of the aftermath on Sunday showed scores of homes burned to the ground, with only their brick fireplaces and foundations remaining, while other houses nearby escaped practically unscathed.


“Just driving around looking at the homes — it’s just one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve ever seen in my life,” Spokane resident Geoff Beadles told AFP, after evacuating with his fiancee and two dogs.

“About 60,000 individuals were evacuated” under the authorities’ highest-level alert, known as “Go Now,” police chief Kevin Hall said Sunday, commending police and firefighters for their efforts.

Emergency authorities set up a fire evacuation shelter at the Spokane Convention Center.

Mayor Lisa Brown told a press briefing: “To the people who are suffering right now in our region from either loss or uncertainty… our hearts go out to you. We are here for you for the long term.”

Smoke accumulating over the city rendered air quality “unhealthy” on Monday, federal data showed, with conditions forecast to turn “very unhealthy” later in the day.

Sheriff John Nowels said no deaths or injuries had so far been reported, but “because of the scale of this and what it takes to… do those kinds of investigations in an active fire scene, that could change.”


Washington Governor Bob Ferguson said he had spoken to federal officials about receiving resources to respond to the disaster, including President Donald Trump, who understood “how dire the situation is.”

Ferguson declared a state of emergency on August 1, citing drought conditions that have stretched four consecutive years, unusually high temperatures and high winds exacerbating record-setting wildfires.

Human-caused climate change is increasingly creating conditions for more frequent and intense wildfires, through increased heat, extended drought, and a “thirsty” atmosphere that enhances the drying of organic matter.

It is a vicious loop, with increased wildfires releasing massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, accelerating planetary warming.

– ‘Extraordinary wildfire season’ –
Fire officials warned that “unauthorized” drone incursions into restricted airspace above wildfires were forcing the grounding of helicopters and other aircraft fighting the blazes.


The head of Washington’s Department of Natural Resources, David Upthegrove, said the fires in Spokane were among 15 major blazes burning throughout the state of Washington.

“This is an extraordinary wildfire season in the Pacific Northwest. It’s not a normal season,” he said.

“A confluence of weather conditions, a confluence of fires throughout the West, are stretching our resources and challenging the individuals in this response.”

An outage map published by local utility Avista showed over 7,300 customers were without power due to the fires as of early Monday.

The biggest of the three fires burning in Spokane, the Old Trails fire, jumped the Spokane River on Saturday afternoon and crossed into the city proper.

Another resident, Tena Risley, said she saw flames behind trees near her home and, in a panic, she grabbed her dog and a few things. She got stuck in traffic trying to flee as the fast-moving fires blocked routes out of the city.

“There were probably hundreds and hundreds of cars,” she told AFP.

Wildfires raze neighbourhoods, force 60,000 to evacuate in Spokane, Washington

About 60,000 people within Spokane's city limits have been evacuated under the authorities' highest-level alert

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Days of heavy rain leave at least 13 dead in Philippines
Scientists say human-driven climate change is making extreme weather more frequent, prolonged and intense.

Author of the article:AFP
AFP
Published Aug 10, 2026 • 2 minute read

Motorists commute along a flooded street after heavy rain in Manila on Monday. Photo by Ted ALJIBE /AFP

Manila (AFP) — Floods, landslides and accidents driven by a nine-day downpour equivalent to more than a month’s worth of rain in some areas have killed at least 13 people in the northern Philippines, rescuers said Monday.


The rains, exacerbated by tropical storms, have led to school and government office closures across the main island of Luzon and flooding in the streets of Manila.

Four of the deaths occurred in the mountain resort of Baguio, as a rain-drenched mountainside collapsed on several houses, killing four residents, city disaster official Charles Carame told AFP.

Rescuers were digging through the rubble in search of at least six others who remained missing a day after the incident, he added.

State weather forecaster Dan Villamil said rains in the vacation spot four hours north of the capital were already 47 percent higher than normal for the whole month.

“The rainfall recorded for August 1-9 was highest in Baguio, with an accumulated 1,413.2 millimetres (56 inches),” he said, adding the city’s typical downpour for the month was 963.2 millimetres.


Parts of Metro Manila had recorded rain equivalent to about 90 percent of a typical August, he added.

Landslides killed six other people elsewhere on Luzon, while another drowned, one was hit by a falling tree, and one was electrocuted, according to a civil defence office tally.

While heavy rain continued to fall early Monday evening, Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon told a news conference that floodwaters were receding.

“Our interventions are continuing, but we really need to fix the years and decades’ worth of faulty flood mitigation interventions,” Dizon told reporters, referencing a scandal over bogus flood-control projects that have cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

The Philippines is the first major landmass facing the Pacific cyclone belt, and the archipelago is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, putting millions of people in disaster-prone areas in a state of constant poverty.

Scientists say human-driven climate change is making extreme weather more frequent, prolonged and intense.

Days of heavy rain leave at least 13 dead in Philippines

Scientists say human-driven climate change is making extreme weather more frequent, prolonged and intense.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Europe braces for another summer heatwave
Europe's weather warning system MeteoAlarm on Monday said scorching temperatures are already being felt across much of Italy and coastal areas of Croatia.

Author of the article:AFP
AFP
Published Aug 10, 2026 • 3 minute read

A man casts his line in a lagoon while fishing at sunset on the main island of Rarotonga, in the Pacific Ocean state of the Cook Islands on June 14, 2025. The Copernicus Climate Change Service said on August 10, 2026 the world's oceans hit record-high temperatures for a second straight month in July 2026, driven by marine heatwaves around Europe and a powerful El Nino taking shape in the Pacific. Photo by WILLIAM WEST /AFP via Getty Images

Paris, France, Aug 10, 2026 (AFP) — Much of Europe is bracing for yet another heatwave following periods of scorching temperatures that have driven rivers to record lows, ignited historic forest fires and contributed to thousands of deaths.


Parts of Britain and France on Monday were already under extreme heat warnings with forecasts of temperatures around the mid-30s Celsius.

Unusually high temperatures were also forecast in coming days across a swathe of countries not accustomed to the heat, such as Switzerland, Austria and Hungary.

Europe’s weather warning system MeteoAlarm on Monday said scorching temperatures are already being felt across much of Italy and coastal areas of Croatia.

Here’s what to know as temperatures soar again across the continent, the fastest-warming on the planet due to human-caused climate change.

(FILES) This aerial photograph shows a bridge over the dried out Loire River bed in Loireauxence (Varades), western France, on July 10, 2026. Climate change has intensified a drought across Europe this summer, with extreme heat driving the exceptionally dry conditions, according to experts. Photo by DAMIEN MEYER /AFP via Getty Images
– ‘Intense heat’ –
The United Kingdom’s Met Office warned at the weekend that the summer’s fifth hot spell was about to take hold in a country whose infrastructure has been built for a more temperate, cooler climate.


“Yet another spell of extremely hot weather is set to spread north across much of the UK with temperatures reaching the mid-30s Celsius in places,” it said on X on Sunday.

Half of England and the whole of Wales is already officially in drought — leaving 23 million people subject to hosepipe bans — with more English regions expected to be declared in drought later Monday.

Next to no rain was in forecasts for impacted areas this week.

In France, the national weather agency Meteo-France warned on Monday that the southeast would see temperatures as high as 35C, spreading further across the country as the week progresses.

“The intense heat will affect almost the entire country between Wednesday and Friday,” it said in a bulletin.

The agency also warned that due to climate change, “future summers will generally be hotter than those experienced to date”.

Both France and the UK have seen thousands of excess deaths during previous heatwaves this year.

– Fires and drought –
Greece reported its second fire this season to spark near the capital Athens on Monday, dispatching hundreds of crew and equipment.


Already, more than 10,000 hectares of pine forests were blackened by a blaze that broke out 10 days ago northwest of the capital.

France and Spain have already seen historic wildfires so far this summer, with record levels of drought causing tinder-dry conditions.

Heat and drought are also driving rivers across Europe to record lows. The Rhine in Germany could drop so much it becomes unnavigable, industry groups warned Monday.

Cargo ships have managed to continue transporting goods along the river, which flows through the industrial heartland of Europe’s top economy, but with reduced loads and at higher costs.

And Polish officials announced that the Vistula, the country’s longest river, had matched its record low in Warsaw on Monday — a record only set on Friday.

Low levels along the Danube river have already forced Hungary and Romania to shutter its nuclear plants, which rely on the water for cooling, since late July.

– By the numbers –
Nearly 120 million Europeans live in regions where July 2026 was the hottest ever recorded, according to an AFP analysis of national weather agencies and Copernicus climate data.


The records were concentrated in southern Britain, western France, and northern and eastern Spain.

At least 12,000 excess deaths were recorded across nine European countries during one heatwave in June, an AFP analysis of national statistics found last month, a toll that could rise as more data is released.

– Solar eclipse –
A solar eclipse occurring on Wednesday that will be visible across parts of the European continent is expected to attract skygazers despite the unwelcoming weather.

The European Space Agency’s observatory in Teruel, Spain, will host a day of activities up to the main event with the eclipse beginning at 7:33 pm CEST (1733 GMT) and reaching totality at 8:23 pm.

The area saw temperatures breach 30C on Monday, and the eclipse will cross over areas that were hit by the devastating Spanish fires last month.

Europe braces for another summer heatwave

Parts of Britain and France on Monday were already under extreme heat warnings with forecasts of temperatures around the mid-30s Celsius.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Romania shuts down nuclear plant as Danube drops
Droughts caused by recent heatwaves have driven rivers in Europe to historic lows

Author of the article:AFP
AFP
Ani SANDU
Published Aug 13, 2026 • 2 minute read

The Cernavoda plant usually generates a fifth of Romania's electricity.
The Cernavoda plant usually generates a fifth of Romania's electricity. Photo by Daniel MIHAILESCU /AFP
BUCHAREST — Romania halted operations of its only nuclear plant on Thursday, a rare shutdown due to a drought scorching Europe that has caused the Danube river, whose waters cool the plant, to fall to record lows.


Much of Europe is facing another heatwave this summer following amid droughts that have driven rivers to historic lows.


The Cernavoda plant, which usually generates a fifth of Romania’s electricity, has been shut down just once before, in 2003, due to drought.

The national nuclear energy company Nuclearelectrica had already shut down one of the plant’s two reactors last month, and announced Thursday that it needed to shut the second as well “due to the significant and ongoing drop in the water level of the River Danube.”

“We do not foresee a restart within the next ten days,” the plant’s director, Romeo Urjan, told AFP.

Efforts to divert Danube flow
Romania had been trying to avert a complete shutdown of the plant’s two 700MW reactors.

It had budgeted more than two million euros (US$2.3 million) to try to divert the Danube’s flow in order to maintain cooling of the reactors, including blowing up a rock and sinking four barges filled with rocks into the river.



Article contentRomania had been trying to avert a complete shutdown of the plant’s two 700MW reactors. (Daniel MIHAILESCU/AFP)
Alternative power sources, including from wind power as well as electricity imports, are expected to ensure adequate supplies, the energy ministry said Wednesday.

But it also reiterated an appeal for “responsible consumption.”

It has warned that as a last resort, large industrial consumers would have to face restrictions on consumption in the evening hours to save electricity.

In early August, the government said the carmakers Dacia and Ford would pause production in the country until August 19 to help with the power deficit.

Record-low flows
Nearly two-thirds of the Danube has seen flow rates that are the lowest on record for a month of July in 34 years, according to an analysis published Monday by the European climate change observatory Copernicus.

The current drought has been exacerbated by human-induced climate change, according to a report by the World Weather Attribution group of scientists, who warn that the problem is set to worsen.


Neighbouring Hungary has so far been able to avoid a complete shutdown of its only nuclear plant, Paks, whose four reactors are also cooled by the Danube.

But with the Danube expected to drop even more, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said Wednesday that the government had ordered the construction of a submerged wall, or weir, to try to control flows nears the plant.

Two 80-metre barges are also being stationed at Paks that could be sunk to raise the water level.

Paks, whose output usually covers around a third of Hungary’s electricity needs, has been partially shut down since late last month.

The low levels of the Danube, Europe’s second-longest river, have also severely impacted shipping along its 2,850-kilometre (1,770-mile) route stretching from western Germany to its mouth on the Black Sea.

Romania shuts down nuclear plant as Danube drops

Droughts caused by heatwaves have driven rivers in Europe to historic lows. Read more.

torontosun.com

 

[petros]

Romania shuts down nuclear plant as Danube drops
Droughts caused by recent heatwaves have driven rivers in Europe to historic lows

Author of the article:AFP
AFP
Ani SANDU
Published Aug 13, 2026 • 2 minute read

The Cernavoda plant usually generates a fifth of Romania's electricity.
The Cernavoda plant usually generates a fifth of Romania's electricity. Photo by Daniel MIHAILESCU /AFP
BUCHAREST — Romania halted operations of its only nuclear plant on Thursday, a rare shutdown due to a drought scorching Europe that has caused the Danube river, whose waters cool the plant, to fall to record lows.


Much of Europe is facing another heatwave this summer following amid droughts that have driven rivers to historic lows.


The Cernavoda plant, which usually generates a fifth of Romania’s electricity, has been shut down just once before, in 2003, due to drought.

The national nuclear energy company Nuclearelectrica had already shut down one of the plant’s two reactors last month, and announced Thursday that it needed to shut the second as well “due to the significant and ongoing drop in the water level of the River Danube.”

“We do not foresee a restart within the next ten days,” the plant’s director, Romeo Urjan, told AFP.

Efforts to divert Danube flow
Romania had been trying to avert a complete shutdown of the plant’s two 700MW reactors.

It had budgeted more than two million euros (US$2.3 million) to try to divert the Danube’s flow in order to maintain cooling of the reactors, including blowing up a rock and sinking four barges filled with rocks into the river.



Article contentRomania had been trying to avert a complete shutdown of the plant’s two 700MW reactors. (Daniel MIHAILESCU/AFP)
Alternative power sources, including from wind power as well as electricity imports, are expected to ensure adequate supplies, the energy ministry said Wednesday.

But it also reiterated an appeal for “responsible consumption.”

It has warned that as a last resort, large industrial consumers would have to face restrictions on consumption in the evening hours to save electricity.

In early August, the government said the carmakers Dacia and Ford would pause production in the country until August 19 to help with the power deficit.

Record-low flows
Nearly two-thirds of the Danube has seen flow rates that are the lowest on record for a month of July in 34 years, according to an analysis published Monday by the European climate change observatory Copernicus.

The current drought has been exacerbated by human-induced climate change, according to a report by the World Weather Attribution group of scientists, who warn that the problem is set to worsen.


Neighbouring Hungary has so far been able to avoid a complete shutdown of its only nuclear plant, Paks, whose four reactors are also cooled by the Danube.

But with the Danube expected to drop even more, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said Wednesday that the government had ordered the construction of a submerged wall, or weir, to try to control flows nears the plant.

Two 80-metre barges are also being stationed at Paks that could be sunk to raise the water level.

Paks, whose output usually covers around a third of Hungary’s electricity needs, has been partially shut down since late last month.

The low levels of the Danube, Europe’s second-longest river, have also severely impacted shipping along its 2,850-kilometre (1,770-mile) route stretching from western Germany to its mouth on the Black Sea.

Romania shuts down nuclear plant as Danube drops

Droughts caused by heatwaves have driven rivers in Europe to historic lows. Read more.

torontosun.com

A heatwave did it or consumption? My money Is on consumption.

 

[Ron in Regina]

“Rather than one continuous coast-to-coast deep freeze, winter 2026–2027 looks increasingly like a season of frequent changes, sharp temperature swings, and an active storm track,” read a blog post highlighting the Almanac’s winter outlook in its latest edition, which went on sale Wednesday.

“Milder stretches may be interrupted by sudden outbreaks of Arctic air. Snow storms may transition to sleet or rain before temperatures plunge again. And in areas where temperatures hover close to freezing, even a small shift in a storm’s track could mean the difference between rain, heavy wet snow, or a dangerous coating of ice.”

Canada’s left coast, the Almanac predicts, will see rain and wind with brief thaws, while Alberta is in for a winter of storms and piles of snow from the mountains.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba can expect blizzards and a winter’s worth of Arctic cold, while Ontario is in for an icy winter interspersed with frequent bouts of lake-effect snow squalls.

Quebec can expect a cold and snowy winter fuelled by nor’easters, while the Atlantic provinces will see rain-snow mixes and coastal storms.

For Ontario, the Almanac predicts snow.

Farmers' Almanac warns of cold, snowy Canadian winter with wild temperature swings — Toronto Sun

Ontario could be in for a winter of snow, storms and freezing rain, while other parts of Canada face blizzards and Arctic cold

apple.news

On the heels of last week’s El Niño Advisory issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA,) the Almanac says the seasonal warm ocean currents will have an impact on Canada’s winter.

(While the Farmers’ Almanac swears by the accuracy of its predictions, using proprietary 19th-century mathematical models and astronomical observations claiming high accuracy, analysis of its predictions by researchers and meteorologists suggests its forecast accuracy is no better than a coin toss)

A rapidly strengthening, potentially historic "super" El Niño is in progress, with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center projecting a greater than 90% chance of a very strong event lasting through the 2026/2027 winter. This typically favours warmer-than-average winter temperatures overall across much of Canada, particularly in the western and central regions, but time will tell.

 

[pgs]

“Rather than one continuous coast-to-coast deep freeze, winter 2026–2027 looks increasingly like a season of frequent changes, sharp temperature swings, and an active storm track,” read a blog post highlighting the Almanac’s winter outlook in its latest edition, which went on sale Wednesday.

“Milder stretches may be interrupted by sudden outbreaks of Arctic air. Snow storms may transition to sleet or rain before temperatures plunge again. And in areas where temperatures hover close to freezing, even a small shift in a storm’s track could mean the difference between rain, heavy wet snow, or a dangerous coating of ice.”

Canada’s left coast, the Almanac predicts, will see rain and wind with brief thaws, while Alberta is in for a winter of storms and piles of snow from the mountains.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba can expect blizzards and a winter’s worth of Arctic cold, while Ontario is in for an icy winter interspersed with frequent bouts of lake-effect snow squalls.

Quebec can expect a cold and snowy winter fuelled by nor’easters, while the Atlantic provinces will see rain-snow mixes and coastal storms.

For Ontario, the Almanac predicts snow.

Farmers' Almanac warns of cold, snowy Canadian winter with wild temperature swings — Toronto Sun

Ontario could be in for a winter of snow, storms and freezing rain, while other parts of Canada face blizzards and Arctic cold

apple.news

On the heels of last week’s El Niño Advisory issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA,) the Almanac says the seasonal warm ocean currents will have an impact on Canada’s winter.

(While the Farmers’ Almanac swears by the accuracy of its predictions, using proprietary 19th-century mathematical models and astronomical observations claiming high accuracy, analysis of its predictions by researchers and meteorologists suggests its forecast accuracy is no better than a coin toss)

A rapidly strengthening, potentially historic "super" El Niño is in progress, with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center projecting a greater than 90% chance of a very strong event lasting through the 2026/2027 winter. This typically favours warmer-than-average winter temperatures overall across much of Canada, particularly in the western and central regions, but time will tell.

Winter is coming , come in from the hills .