CLIMATE GLIMPSE: Here’s what you need to see and know today

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This article was published 08/08/2023 (1137 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Amid misery, humans find a way to cope — as seen in this image of flooding following heavy monsoon rains in Kathmandu, Nepal. Associated Press photographer Niranjan Shrestha made this picture of a man putting his child on a plastic vessel to play on Tuesday in the spreading waters of the Bagmati River.

Meanwhile, in South Korea on Tuesday, tens of thousands of Scouts were arriving at inland cities after a tropical storm prompted the government to evacuate the World Scout Jamboree. Tropical Storm Khanun’s path toward the Korean Peninsula raised alarms about the scouts’ coastal campsite in Saemangeum, where last week’s high heat had already required treatment for more than 100 people at the event. The evacuation involved some 37,000 Scouts from 156 countries, shifting them to university dormitories, government and corporate training centers and hotels inland to continue cultural events and activities.

Here’s what else is happening related to extreme weather and the climate right now:

—The European climate monitoring organization made it official Tuesday: July 2023 was Earth’s hottest month on record by a wide margin. Copernicus Climate Change Service said the global average of 16.95 degrees Celsius (62.51 Fahrenheit) was one-third of a degree Celsius higher than the previous record set in 2019.

—Scientists said shattered temperature records and more frequent wacky weather events are being seen even in Antarctica, a place once seen as at least slightly shielded from global warming’s wildness.

—In Brazil, leaders of the nations that share the Amazon rainforest were meeting to discuss ways to protect the ecosystem from its many threats, including organized crime. The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization is a 45-year-old alliance without a history of effective action, but Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said he hopes this time will be different.

—About 1,400 people evacuated from villages and a campsite because of wildfires in Portugal were gradually returning home on Tuesday. More than 1,000 firefighters are battling the fires as Portugal and neighboring Spain endure extreme heat above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

—New Zealand, with a grid that already runs on about 82% renewable energy, announced a partnership with a U.S. investment giant to goose wind, solar, battery storage and green hydrogen to get to 100% by the end of the decade.

—President Joe Biden visited Arizona on Tuesday to announce plans for a new national monument to preserve about 1,500 square miles just outside Grand Canyon National Park. Preserving the land has been a goal of tribes and environmentalists from decades.

—Scientists have been warning about the danger of glacial flooding in an era of climate change, with some 15 million people thought to be at risk globally. It happened over the weekend in Juneau, Alaska.

QUOTABLE:

“They have to make this deforestation stop. What I am going to say is that if the presidents do not take any measure, they are going to have serious environmental problems. Natural disasters will be a problem for all us human beings.” — Indigenous leader Raoni Metuktire, speaking outside a summit in Brazil at which leaders of several countries were discussing protection of the Amazon rainforest.

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