In March 2025, Central Asia experienced an unusually intense heatwave, with temperatures reaching record highs across the region, reaching maxima of 30.8°C Jalalabad in Kyrgyzstan, 29.4°C Namangan, 29.1°C Fergana, in Uzbekistan and minimum temperatures of 18.3°C in Shahdara, making it the hottest March night in Kazakhstan’s history.
On 7 March, 2025, Bahía Blanca, Argentina, experienced an unprecedented rainfall event with over 300 mm of rain in just 8 hours, nearly half of the city’s annual average. This extreme event, the heaviest in the city’s recorded history (1956-present), was caused by a cold front reaching the area after several days of hot, humid … Continue reading “Consecutive extreme heat and flooding events in Argentina highlight the risk of managing increasingly frequent and intense hazards in a warming climate”
In mid-February 2025, southern Botswana and eastern South Africa were hit by heavy rainfall, sparking severe flooding across the region. The floods claimed at least 31 lives, including 22 in KwaZulu-Natal (Mhlophe-Gumede, 2025), near Durban, and at least nine in Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, amongst them six children (Government of Botswana, 2025). At least 5,000 people … Continue reading “Increasing extreme rainfall and rapid urbanisation, major drivers behind Gaborone’s deadly floods”
Extreme heat has affected a large region of continental Eastern Africa since mid-February. Extreme daytime temperatures have been recorded in South Sudan particularly affecting people in poor housing and outdoor workers, a very large part of the population. After dozens of children collapsed with heatstroke in Juba, schools were closed for two weeks nationwide starting … Continue reading “Women and girls continue to bear disproportionate impacts of heatwaves in South Sudan that have become a constant threat”
Starting on January 7 2025 two large wildfires (the Palisades and Eaton wildfires) erupted in Los Angeles, California. The fires spread extremely quickly over the following week and are among the most destructive of human property in Southern California’s history.