Earthweek: a diary of the planet
Shifting heat
The unprecedented heat wave that shattered all-time records as it baked western Europe during late July has shifted northwestward to blanket Greenland.
The U.N. weather agency says the heat could cause record melting of the world’s second-largest ice sheet during what’s left of the Northern Hemisphere’s summer. The Greenland ice sheet accumulated over many thousands of years and has the potential to lift sea levels by 23 feet if melted entirely.
With heat waves becoming more intense and frequent in the deepening global climate crisis, scientists say Greenland’s melt will undoubtedly increase further.
Branching out
Residents across Ethiopia planted 350 million trees in a single day this past Monday, breaking a world record in an effort to help tackle global warming and repair a century of deforestation in the East African nation.
A new study shows that a massive global campaign to plant at least 1 trillion trees around the world could cut the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by nearly 25 percent once those trees mature. “We all knew restoring forests could play a part in tackling climate change, but we had no scientific understanding of what impact this could make,” study senior author Thomas Crowther said.
Tropical cyclones
The hurricane season in the eastern Pacific heated up quickly during the week, with Erick and Flossie churning the waters between the Mexican mainland and Hawaii. Both were expected to weaken before brushing Hawaii.
Also this past week, Tropical Storm Nari hit parts of Japan’s Honshu Island, near Osaka, with sustained winds of 40 mph. China’s southwestern Guangdong province and Hainan Island were soaked by weakening Tropical Storm Wipha. Outer bands of the cyclone brought squalls and brief downpours as far away as Hong Kong.
Tiger bounty
A new census of India’s wild tiger population shows that their number has increased by more than 30 percent over the past four years, thanks to conservation efforts.
By using a network of 26,000 remote motion-sensor cameras across known tiger habitats, wildlife experts determined there are now 2,967 tigers in the wild, compared with 2,226 in 2015. Neighboring Bangladesh also saw its big cat population jump from 106 to 114 over the period. It’s estimated that more than 100,000 tigers roamed the South Asia region in 1900.
Earthquakes
At least nine people died when a magnitude 6.0 earthquake wrecked homes and other structures in the far northern Philippine archipelago of Batanes. Earth movements also were felt in southeastern Japan, north-central Australia, the Greek capital of Athens, Crete, the Virgin Islands, El Salvador and central Kansas.
Arctic infernos
A public outcry over unprecedented fire storms spewing smoke across Siberia prompted officials in Moscow to declare a state of emergency and step up fire-fighting efforts in areas their crews and aircraft could reach. More than 30 million acres of forests and boreal peat have been blackened so far this summer.
Those fires and others in Alaska and northern Canada have spewed more carbon dioxide than in any other year on record. Scientists say the release of the greenhouse gas stored in those trees and peat could amplify global heating further. The fires were sparked by some of the hottest summertime weather ever seen.
Java eruption
Indonesian officials quickly evacuated visitors from the Tangkuban Perahu volcano after a sudden but brief eruption sent ash soaring above West Java. The ash covered roadways and landscapes near the restive volcano.
©2019 Earth Environment Service