Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
6.0 earthquake hits New Britain, Papua New Guinea.
5.1 earthquake hits New Ireland, Papua New Guinea.
Storms and Floods
Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:
In the Southern Hemisphere: Tropical cyclone 06p (Tiffany), located approximately 187 nm north-northeast of Cairns, Australia, is tracking westward at 06 knots.
Tropical cyclone 05p (Five), located approximately 132 nm west-southwest of Suva, Fiji, is tracking east-southeastward at 11 knots.
NewsBytes:
Pakistan – At least 21 people died in freezing temperatures when tens of thousands of visitors thronged a Pakistani hill town about 70 kilometres northeast of Islamabad to see unusually heavy snowfall, sparking a major traffic jam, authorities said Saturday. Police reported that at least eight people had frozen to death in their cars, while it was not immediately clear if others may have died from asphyxiation after inhaling exhaust fumes in snow-bound vehicles.
Brazil – At least seven people were killed and three were missing after a cliff collapsed onto boats carrying tourists on a lake in Brazil, authorities said on Saturday. Rescue teams including a dive squad and members of the Brazilian Navy rushed to Furnas Lake in Minas Gerais state, where panicked tourists had watched helplessly as a large rock fragment broke off a ravine and plunged atop three boats.
Global Warming
Texas has Hottest December
State climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon announced that Texas had its hottest December since at least 1889. The official state record for previous warmest December was December 1933, at 53.3 degrees and once the data is finalized, December 2021 may go into the record books with an average state temperature above 58 degrees Fahrenheit. In many of the states’ largest cities, temperatures were between 5-9 degrees warmer than average.
The 20th century average temperature for December in Texas is 46.9 degrees and Nielsen-Gammon believes that once data is finalized, the statewide average temperature for December 2021 will end up near 12 degrees above the 20th century average. Typically, temperatures are not compared to the century average, but instead the 30-year average. With our warming climate the 30-year average temperature for Texas is roughly two degrees warmer than the 20th century average.
Wildfires
Wildfires – Uganda
Over 100 people were left homeless as a bushfire razes 20 Huts in Pader, Uganda. The wildfire suspected to have originated from the neighboring villages razed the grass-thatched huts leaving their occupants in the cold. No cases of injuries or death have been reported connected to the fire.
Disease
Covid-19
The countries with the 10 greatest number of Covid-19 cases:
Malaria – South Sudan
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently announced monitoring a malaria outbreak in South Sudan. According to the latest data, from the beginning of 2021 through December 19, 3,707,252 total malaria cases were reported in the east/central African country. In addition, 2,923 deaths were recorded.