Climate threatGlobal challenges

A woman seeks shelter from the sun in Tokyo in August. Shuji Kajiyama / AP  

 

Climate threatGlobal challenges  

Three new heat records in the world: Hottest summer in Japan since 1898  

 

Three new heat records have been set in the world this year, according to AFP. India has recorded the hottest and driest August since national measurements began over a century ago, writes the news agency. And Japan and Australia also report today on new heat records for the countries' respective summer periods. 

 

Japan has experienced its hottest summer this year since records began in 1898, the national weather agency announced on Friday, according to the AFP news agency. 

 

The average temperature deviation, which is based on observations at 15 different locations, was 1.76 degrees Celsius higher. That far exceeds the deviation of 1.08 degrees Celsius from 2010.  

 

In several places in the country, not only the maximum temperatures reached record high levels - but also the minimum temperatures.  

 

In July alone, 53 people died of heat stroke - and over 50,000 needed medical care, according to AFP.  

 

Australia, where it is winter between June and August, also had record warm temperatures during the same period, according to the country's meteorological agency.  

 

The average temperature in Australia during June, July and August was close to 17 degrees, climate scientist Simon Grainger told AFP.  

 

Storefronts in Hong Kong have been taped up to protect them from the super typhoon. Daniel Ceng / AP

 

Super typhoon approaching Hong Kong - closing the city  

 

Large parts of Hong Kong have been shut down on Friday as the major typhoon Saola draws ever closer, news agencies report. 

 

Both schools and the stock market are closed in anticipation of Saola, and hundreds of flights have been grounded. In southern China, nearly 4,000 trains have been canceled until Sunday.  

 

Hong Kong has issued a warning for the typhoon, which according to authorities could be among the five strongest typhoons to hit Guangdong province since 1949, writes Reuters.

 

Idalia hit the Big Bend region, which is relatively sparsely populated. Jennifer Glenfield/AP 

Hurricane season 

Dung sour but alive - Florida escaped the worst  

Hurricane Idalia has decreased in strength and moved out to sea, writes AFP. Material damage and hundreds of thousands of people have lost power are being reported from Florida and Georgia where it has advanced. However, no one has been confirmed dead as a direct consequence of the storm.  

- Everything on the floors was destroyed [...] but everything is good, it's just a lot to clean up, 52-year-old Keith Randall told AFP as he cleaned out water-damaged belongings from his home in Crystal River.  

The Washington Post writes that Idalia was not as devastating as some feared. Some of the reasons were that the hurricane moved so quickly and that it mainly affected relatively sparsely populated areas.  

According to the New York Times, Idalia is at risk of gaining strength and hitting the Bermuda Islands this weekend. Look up details

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