Temperature
Extremes
High
temperature extreme:
Kuwait City, Kuwait 121 degrees.
Low temperature extreme:
Vostok (Russia), Antarctica -104 degrees.
(top)
Holiday
Warming
Some
of the most popular vacation spots in the world could be facing
a decline in business due to global warming, according to a report
by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Temperatures could rise to uncomfortable levels at seaside resorts
and could also bring about abbreviated ski seasons on low-lying
slopes. The WWF report said that tourist destinations along the
Mediterranean coast will experience an increasing number of days
with temperatures in excess of 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Faster melt
during the winter ski season could also mean more crowded conditions
on the slopes due to fewer days in which to ski. Ute Collier, a
WWF expert on climate change, also warned against the increased
possibility of flooding, drought, forest fires, rising ocean levels,
and resulting diseases such as malaria, which could turn “profitable
destinations into holiday horror stories.”
Tropical
Storms
Hurricane
Dennis drenched parts of the Bahamas with more than 10 inches
of rainfall before moving slowly and weakening off the Carolina
coast.
Extensive beach erosion occurred due to the length of time the storm
remained offshore. The high surf generated by Dennis also washed
away scores of nests of the environmentally threatened loggerhead
sea turtle in what was to have been one of the best nesting seasons
on record. Hurricane Cindy lost force over the open waters of the
Atlantic Ocean after killing scores of people during its development
phase in western Africa.
Andean
Winter Storm
At
least 600 fully loaded trucks were trapped for several days in the
east Argentine province of Mendoza due to a snowstorm that
blocked the tunnel they must use on the route to Chile.
The Cristo Redentor tunnel had snow piled up about five feet high
on the Chilean side.
Earthquakes
Terrified
survivors of Turkey’s August 17 temblor once again were sent
fleeing into the streets by a powerful magnitude 5.2 quake, which
was followed 20 minutes later by a magnitude 4.6 tremor.
One
person was killed and at least 166 others were injured when the
city of Izmit was shaken by the strongest quake. Many buildings
damaged during the initial magnitude 7.4 quake in August crumbled
from the additional shaking. Earth movements were also felt in western
Greece’s Ionian Sea region, New Zealand’s North Island, the northern
Philippines and in south-central Alaska.
Wildfires
Nearly
2,000 brush fires were raging out of control across the central-western
region of Brazil as more than half of a 10,000-acre rain
forest sanctuary in the central part of the country had already
been destroyed.
Many
more rare plant and animal species are threatened by the advancing
blazes. The fires were fueled by an ongoing drought and fanned by
hot, gusty winds. Wildfires continued to rage across several western
U.S. states. California firefighters began burning selected forests
in an effort to prevent the largest of the state’s wildfires from
advancing to the resort towns of the San Bernadino Mountains. The
blazes threaten to disrupt the Labor Day holiday weekend across
the region.
Jellyfish
Invasion
Scores
of swimmers have been wounded by stinging lashes from hordes of
jellyfish that have proliferated along the Italian coast
this summer.
Popular
beaches, from Portofino on the northwest coast to the island of
Panarea off the coast of Sicily, have been invaded by the glow-in-the-dark
Pelagia noctiluca. Some experts think that hot and dry weather this
season is a factor in the population explosion of the marine creatures.
Jellyfish are not good swimmers and frequently seek the protection
of coves and bays. They are often killed by heavy waves and rough
water. This year’s dry weather has caused less fresh water to flow
into bays and has afforded more hiding places for the invaders.
Wayward
Dolphins
Five
dolphins that followed a pleasure boat up an Irish stream
have been unable to be persuaded to return to the open sea.
The
five marine mammals swam up an inlet of Belmullet Bay in County
Mayo, and remained behind in the 20-foot-deep creek when the tide
went out. Local residents tried to trick the dolphins into following
several other boats back out into the open waters, but the dolphins
refused to be fooled. Businesses in the area have reported a large
upsurge in tourism since the dolphins took up residence.
