Unliveable! It's all happening so fast our governments are clueless: Nature is hitting back; deaths in German and Belgium floods pass 100 with hundreds more missing; The 4th extreme heatwave in 5 weeks set to hit Canada and US

For years The Big Wobble has been warning people that extreme summer downpours and heatwaves would cause the places we call home, unliveable, for parts of the year at the very least.

More than 100 people have been killed and hundreds more missing in Germany, Belgium, and southern Holland after record amounts of rain have burst river banks in the areas but it was the speed of the rising water which caught many people unprepared. The UK was hit by a similar deluge at the beginning of this week and the government's advisory climate change committee told ministers the nation was even worse prepared for extreme weather events than it was five years ago, that's because these extreme events are increasing too rapidly for governments to react.

Other parts of the northern hemisphere are currently suffering record-breaking heatwaves and fires which serves as a reminder as to the danger many of us are in without fully understanding the severity of the circumstances, which is exactly why so many people have died in Western Europe, Canada, and the United States in just the last couple of weeks!

Incredibly, another heatwave warning has been issued for the northwestern US and southwestern Canada. It is the fourth intense heatwave in five weeks which has already claimed the lives of hundreds of people. The heatwave is expected to produce more wildfires of course.

But let's not forget, the real damage is hitting the environment and the delicate ecosystems which are already under immense stress. For instance, California officials have warned the intense heatwaves across the state are likely to kill all young salmon in the Sacramento River this year.

Meanwhile, more than a billion marine animals were killed by the unusual heat earlier this month along the US Canadian border. British Columbia scientist says heat essentially cooked mussels. Which highlights the vulnerability of ecosystems unaccustomed to extreme temperatures. The “heat dome” that settled over western Canada and the north-western US for five days pushed temperatures in communities along the coast, shattering longstanding records and offering little respite for days.

Thousands of tonnes of dead sardines, as well as other fish and marine life, washed up on the northern Pacific coast of Baja California Sur over the weekend in an event described by local environmentalists as the state’s worst-ever marine ecological tragedy. An official with the Baja California Sur Ministry of Fisheries said the die-off was caused by high ocean temperatures. The hotter than usual temperature of the water caused hypoxia – inadequate oxygen supply – in the deceased fish and marine life.

A record number of manatees have died this year in the US state of Florida, primarily from starvation, wildlife authorities say. At least 841 of the marine mammals died in waters near the eastern state between 1 January and 2 July. That breaks the previous record set in 2013 when 830 manatees died after exposure to harmful algae. This year biologists say seagrass beds manatees rely on for food are dying out because of rising water pollution.

Parts of the Sunshine State on the Western coast are dealing with some serious red tide trouble. Tons of dead fish are washing onshore across the Tampa Bay area. The unhealthy situation has prompted several beaches to close for around-the-clock cleanup. It’s a disturbing sight to see and smell. Dead fish are littering the shorelines across Tampa Bay. Baitfish, sport fish, stingrays, even dolphins, and manatees have all been killed by red tide and are piling up and officials don’t think this problem will be resolved quickly. 

June 2021 has just been announced as the hottest ever in the U.S. by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Tropical Storm Elsa was announced as the earliest 5th named storm in the Atlantic season ever, (typically the 5th named storm of a season usually arrives at about the end of August) the nation has been hit with a more than 30 billion-dollar disaster bill for 2021 in just over six-months.

This Atlantic hurricane season is already setting records. Tropical Storm Elsa, which formed on July 1, became the earliest-forming fifth named storm on record over the Atlantic Ocean. On average, the fifth named storm of the season doesn’t typically form until the end of August. The previous record was set last year when Tropical Storm Edouard formed on July 6, 2020.

The nation’s drought intensified: According to the June 29 U.S. Drought Monitor report, a little more than 47% of the contiguous U.S. was in drought, up from nearly 44% at the beginning of June. Drought intensified or expanded across portions of the West, northern and central Plains, Midwest, New England, and Hawaii. 

The wildfire season has also arrived early and is set to become the worst ever!

The crazy season was up and running very early this summer ladies and gentlemen. After one of the coldest May's on record on both sides of the pond, the heatwaves and wildfires bit back. Massive wildfires were burning in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, and Montana in June. The last three summers have seen record-breaking wildfire seasons in the US with each season beginning earlier and ending later.

Lake Mead the lifeline for nearly 30 million Americans and millions of acres of farmland once held trillions of tons of water and was the foundation of growth for the modern West, however, Lake Mead is now unrecognizable after years of devastating drought due to the record temperatures and years of low snowpacks in the winter months has brought the lake to a critical low. If the drought carries on California will have a huge water problem by next year.

Computer models can't keep up!

Shocked climate scientists are wondering how even worst-case scenarios failed to predict such furnace-like conditions so far north when an incredible, record-breaking heatwave hit Canada and the northwest US even before summer had officially arrived earlier this year. Johan Rockström, the director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said the recent extreme weather anomalies were not represented in global computer models.

Wildfire activity amid extreme heat and drought has resulted in smoke blanketing much of the United States and Canada. As of July 14, 2021, 68 active large fires in 12 states have burned more than one million acres of land in the U.S. To date in 2021, more than 34,000 fires have burned more than two million acres. This is the most fire in the January to July time period since 2011. July is relatively early to see wildfire activity of this magnitude. NOAA satellites are monitoring the fires, their smoke output, and air quality effects from the smoke. The fires are injecting smoke 40,000 feet into the atmosphere and compromising air quality.

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