As we approach, 2019 has already produced a devasting string of extremes our planet has ever thrown at us. With the destructive wildfire season upon us the Amazon and Syberia are already blazing away.
Just two weeks into 2019 and record temperatures of almost 50 deg C (122 deg F) along with crippeling drought with reports of millions of dead fish, uncontrollable wildfire and crop failures were being reported in Australia, we couldn't have known then weather chaos has been the norm in 2019.
If Australia's dangerous hot temperatures was a danger to life, the cold temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere just 22 days into January were even riskier. Devastating record snowfall hit Austria, Switzerland and Germany and Greece with temperatures dropping from the unusually warm Mediterranean land, too -23 deg C -9 deg F. Parts of Russia plunged towards -60 °C on Saturday, -76 deg F, Snow-covered highways, near-zero visibility and a bone-chilling cold wave hits part of Canada Temperatures plummeted to - 40 degrees Fahrenheit (-40 deg C) in the U.S., we were only three weeks into 2019.
35 days of hell on Earth in Australia when record-breaking heatwave saw temperatures nudge 50 deg C (122 deg F), suddenly 2 years rain fell in just 7 days in Queensland causing horrendous flooding.
After just 38 days into 2019 and already we had record heat in Australia, Chile and Brazil, record cold in the US, Canada and Russia, record snowfall in the US and record rain in the US and Australia and now NASA claimed the last 5 years have been the warmest since modern records began. Could we ignore the figures anymore?
The UK and parts of Europe had their first of many heatwaves in 2019 when the record for its warmest winter day for the second consecutive day, with a temperature of 21.2°C in Kew Gardens, London was recorded. According to the BBC Monday was the first time temperatures of over 20C had been reported in winter. The unusually high temperatures have prompted hedgehogs to come out of hibernation, butterflies to emerge and migrating birds such as swallows and house martins to arrive more than a month early, (it was still February!)
Here we go again, the hottest start to autumn in 30 years has resulted in an explosion of wildfires in the Australian state of Victoria. Parts of Australia have already endured the hottest January ever, the wettest February and now Victoria is enduring the hottest start to autumn ever. Wildfires have been a major nuisance in 2019.
Records of maximum daily temperature for the month of March tumbled in at least six locations in India this year. India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued the heatwave alert for some parts of Nashik, Ahmednagar, Parbhani, Beed and Osmanabad on the day Pune recorded its hottest March day in 66 years at 40.4°C in both Shivajinagar and Lohegaon.
Parts of Alaska have recorded their warmest February and March on record with temperatures +40 deg F above normal.
In April, the US claimed it had never seen catastrophic flooding like this year before and NOAA was warning us the flooding will continue through to the end of May. With more than 90% of the upper midwest and great planes still covered by nearly 11 inches of snow and all that snow was beginning to melt. That meant the US will transform from one of the worst winters in modern history into a flood season that has already taken an apocalyptic turn for farmers across the US.
Greenland was said to be falling apart! 11 QUADRILLION POUNDS of water lost since 1972 and 286 BILLION TONS of ice lost since 2010 and it's getting worse.
Temperatures touching 51 deg C (124 deg F) a historic drought causing millions of people to abandon their homes and farms in search of water was to blame for causing mass suicides in India.
Astonishing temperatures hit Kuwait in July with highs of 52.2 degrees C, (126 deg F) and 63 degrees C (145.4 deg F) under direct sunlight
France had finally overtaken it's highest temperature ever as the continuing heatwave pushed the mercury toward 45 deg C, (113 deg F) The new record was measured in the southern town of Carpentras. Meteo France forecaster Etienne Kapikian says the Carpentras record of 44.3C is a "provisional maximum temperature" that will "continue to rise over 45C".
Anchorage, Alaska hit 89 degrees F, (32 deg C), July to break the all-time highest temperature ever recorded: Campbell Creek hit 91 degrees F, (33 deg C)
June 2019 hottest on record for the globe: Nine of the 10 hottest Junes have occurred since 2010: June was the 414th consecutive month with above-average global temperatures
“Absolutely incredible!” Hundreds of locations across Europe smashed all-time hot weather records by an impressive margin in July.
100 people died from the heat and over 35,000 have been hospitalised in Japan since July with temperatures surpassing 40 deg C, (104 deg F)
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