Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.7 earthquake hits Taiwan.
5.5 earthquake hits the South Sandwich Islands.
5.3 earthquake hits south of Fiji.
Storms and Floods
Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:
In the Atlantic Ocean: Hurricane Sam is located about 940 mi…1510 km ese of the northern Leeward islands with maximum sustained winds…145 mph…230 km/h. Present movement…wnw or 295 degrees at 8 mph…13 km/h.
In the Northwest Pacific Ocean: Super Typhoon 20w (Mindulle), located approximately 442 nm southwest of Iwo To, is tracking westward at 03 knots.
Tropical cyclone 03b (Gulab), located approximately 281 nm south-southwest of Kolkata, India, is tracking westward at 10 knots.
Environment
Drought in the US Southwest is worst in recorded history
The ongoing drought in the U.S. Southwest is the worst drought the region has experienced since record keeping began in 1895, according to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) Drought Task Force.
The 20 months from January 2020 through August 2021 saw the lowest total precipitation and the third-highest daily average temperatures ever recorded in the Southwest (which encompasses Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah), resulting in an “unyielding, unprecedented and costly” crisis, the report said.
While the drought punctuates a two-decades-long period of declining precipitation in the Southwest that is “presumably natural,” human-induced climate change exacerbated the current drought significantly by driving up average temperatures to scorching highs, the report found. Together, the low precipitation and searing temperatures reduced the area’s mountain snowpack and increased water evaporation in Southwestern soil, leading to the severe and persistent drought.
Disease
Covid-19
The countries with the 10 greatest number of Covid-19 cases:
Botulism – Russia
Health authorities in Tatarstan report twelve botulism cases this year in the districts of Almetyevsky, Zainsky, Leninogorsky and Sarmanovsky. This compares with two botulism cases reported in the previous two years.
Typhoid – Mexico
Tamaulipas state, on the west coast of Mexico and bordering Texas has reported 3,407 typhoid fever infections since the beginning of the year. This puts Tamaulipas at the top of cases reported in any one state, closely followed by Sinaloa state (3381).