Find, view and share videos about news and entertainment from around the Web.
See Videos »

Blog Chatter

NEWS ALERTS

Get the latest updates sent straight to your inbox.

Sign up to receive AOL News alerts by e-mail.

Extreme Weather Plagues Globe in 2007

CNN
Posted: 2007-08-08 14:06:33
UNITED NATIONS (Aug. 7) -- Extreme weather has plagued the globe this year, a United Nations agency said, noting that the year also has brought some of the highest temperatures on record.

The World Meteorological Organization said "global land surface temperatures for January and April will likely be ranked as the warmest since records began in 1880," according to a press release on its Web site.

WMO said temperatures were 3.4 degrees Fahrenheit higher than average for January and 12.45 degrees higher than average for April.

Theagency found that climate warming was unequivocal and most likely "due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels."

Here are some of the extreme instances the United Nations cites:

-- Four monsoon depressions, double the normal number, caused heavy flooding in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. On Monday, floodwaters receded in parts of South Asia, but the death toll rose to 347, officials said.

Millions remain displaced and homeless, and authorities fear waterborne disease could spread. Indian officials say more than 1,200 people have died in their country alone since monsoon season began in June.

-- England and Wales have experienced their wettest May-to-July period since record-keeping started in 1766. In late July, swollen rivers threatened to burst their banks. At least eight people died during weeks of torrential rain, and thousands were without tap water.

-- Late last month in Sudan, floods and heavy rain caused 23,000 mud brick homes to collapse, killing at least 62 people. The rainfall was abnormally heavy and early for this time of the year.

-- In May, swell waves up to 15 feet high swept into 68 islands in the Maldives, causing severe flooding and damage.

-- Also in May, a heat wave swept across Russia.

-- Southeastern Europe did not escape the unusual weather. The area suffered record-breaking heat in June and July.

-- An unusual cold southern winter brought wind, blizzards and rare snowfall to various parts of South America, with temperatures reaching as low as 7 degrees below zero Fahrenheit in Argentina and 0 degrees Fahrenheit in Chile in July.

-- In June, South Africa had its first significant snowfall since 1981, as almost 10 inches of the white stuff fell in some parts of the country.

In the United States, temperatures climbed into the triple digits this week in Midwestern states.

2007-08-08 09:20:03
Bookmark

Recent Comments

1 - 10 of 2456
2456 comments

ajgorm 11:21:59 AM Feb 01 2008

6..6 billion people on this earth 85% live on the Afroeurasia continent. Only 8 to 15% live in the Americas. That means 1 billion here 6 billion there. By 2020 we should have close to 9 billion . 7.5 billion there 1.5 billion here. What about enough food, housing and resources. By 2050 could be as high as 10 billion
2 billion double what we have now. Theories abound on how we need to maintain this growth. Good luck.

ajgorm 02:07:51 AM Jan 30 2008

one must wonder if this will continue

jandjgordon1 01:50:00 PM Oct 22 2007

to bad for our kids kids kids grand kids can you say 3rd world

kenng4now 09:31:39 PM Oct 17 2007

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS OPEN YOUR EYES AND LOOK AT THE WORLD.

wilsonfamilyhere 08:48:00 PM Aug 10 2007

mbonkers, I have never met you, But i like your thought process, Keep giving them hell.

wilsonfamilyhere 04:16:00 PM Aug 10 2007

I have the perfect answer to keep the Hilldabeast out of the White House.
We bring back the draft, Demacrats and liberals will swarm to Canada,
as they did during the Viet Nam war.
Simple A.

wilsonfamilyhere 04:16:00 PM Aug 10 2007

I have the perfect answer to keep the Hilldabeast out of the White House.
We bring back the draft, Demacrats and liberals will swarm to Canada,
as they did during the Viet Nam war.
Simple A.

palliard1411 02:29:00 AM Aug 10 2007

Articles that are provocative and candid, concerning the threats that face the world today:

NUCLEAR ARMS-Beware the Growling Bear and Other Predators
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=31432

OBESITY-The Enemy Within
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=33473

author?s website is www.RaimondoSalomone.com

Paradox343 08:50:50 PM Aug 09 2007

stupid people if you run a car in a garage what happens? you die! if you run millions of cars in a giant terrarium or planet if you will.... the planet and everything on it will eventually die FOOLS GO BACK TO SCHOOL AND LEARN ABOUT POLLUTION AND SMOG AND WHATNOT

rscaciopoli1 04:07:45 PM Aug 09 2007

ismellagop 01:40:16 PM Aug 09 2007

Report This! Had enough of the crazed and demented religious "wackos" and the cynical, lying, corrupt corporate ****** from the likes of the American Enterprise Institute who use them as the base for their Republican regression to the stone age?

UM YEA, WHATEVER

1 - 10 of 2456
2456 comments

Add your own Comments

Top Videos

News Bloggers

Ada Calhoun
  • Ada Calhoun
  • 02/10/10 12:00 AM by Ada Calhoun
Dinesh D'Souza
  • Dinesh D'Souza
  • 02/10/10 12:00 AM by Dinesh D'Souza
Mo Rocca
  • Mo Rocca
  • 02/10/10 12:00 AM by Mo Rocca
Ben Greenman
  • Ben Greenman
  • 02/10/10 12:00 AM by Ben Greenman
The Young Turks
  • The Young Turks
  • 02/10/10 12:00 AM by The Young Turks