Geography Unit 1, World at Risk Case Study 1 - 2006: a year of wild weather

The year 2006 was a year of wild weather, breaking many records. It started off as a weak La Nina, and developed into a moderate El Nino between August and September. Here is a calendar of the effects of drought, floods, storms and temperature from January to December 2006.Droughts~January - drought in east Kenya.~March - drought persists in Spain and Portugal.~Mid April - Persistent anticyclone drought in southeast England after warm dry summer 2005. Droughts in west and north China and Afghanistan lead to crop losses and water shortage.~Mid July - Drought in southeast China and Horn of Africa.~Late September - Great Australian drought, worst in modern times. Massive wildfires (El Nino induced).Floods~January - Flooding and mudslides in abnormally wet Indonesia (weak La Nina).~Mid February - Major flooding in Bolivia.~March - Spring flooding along Danube highest since 1895 (150 deaths).~April - Rain inundates Kenya and Somalia~July - Heavy rains in Sahel lead to flooding in Niger.~August - Widespread flooding in Hunan province, China (612 deaths).~September - Monsoonal floods in Asia, especially Thailand (154 deaths) and Rajasthan, India (200 deaths).~Late October - Deluge of rain in Ethiopia~November - Flooding in Somalia and Kenya (150 deaths). Floods in Indonesia (Sumatra) and Malaysia (worst in a century).~Mid December - Flash floods hit Melbourne, Australia. Storms~January - Cyclone Clare strikes northwest Australia. Cyclone in Fiji causes widespread flooding.~March - Cyclone Larry hits Queensland.~April - Cyclone Monica hits Queensland coast (most intense ever in southern hemisphere).~June - Catastrophic storms hit southeast China.~July - Typhoon Saomai, category 5, hits Taiwan and east China (250 deaths).~August - Tropical storm Bils hits southeast China (600 deaths).~September - Four category four sorms strike Philippines - flooding and landslides.~Mid October - Tornado in Saroma Hokkaido, Japan (9 deaths).~Mid November - Typhoon Durion hits Philippines (1,200 deaths).~December - Severe winter storms and damaging tornadoes in Kilburn, London. Extreme temperatures~January - Heavy snow, 4m, north Japan. Snow in East Europe. -30 degrees centigrade in Ukraine and Russia.~March - Arctic has warmest spring on record.~June - High temperatures in Europe leads to loss of cereal production in southern France.~Mid July - Hottest summer on record in UK.~August - Severe heat across USA (warmest since 1895).~Mid September - Warmest autumn on record over most of Europe.~Late October - Heatwave in Australia nationwide. 40 degrees centigrade+ in New South Wales, Australia.~December - Very cold in Victoria and New South Wales, Australia. As you can see, many of these issues occurred in countries and areas around the Pacific Ocean such as Australia, the Philippines and the south-east coast of Asia. This means many of these dramatic hydro-meteorological hazards are due to the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), but there are also many linked to the increasing effects of climate change. Climate change could also have served to exacerbate the effects caused by the ENSO.

2006: a year of wild weather