No – it’s not a scene from Arachnophobia or Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. These spiders have escaped the floodwaters inundating the town of Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, Australia, by moving to higher ground and building massive networks of interconnected webs over raised sticks and bushes. They have covered entire fields [...]
Tag Archives: Queensland
World coal prices at record levels on Queensland floods mining losses
The biggest floods in Queensland, Australia, in half a century are turning into a windfall for U.S. coal mining companies anticipating record profits and the highest exports in 15 years. Shipments from the U.S. are poised to rise 8.8 percent this year to about 86.5 million tons, the most since 1996, the Energy Department in [...]
Warming of oceans driving flooding/drought extremes in Australia
Climate change has likely intensified the monsoon rains that have triggered record floods in Australia’s Queensland state, scientists said on Wednesday, with several months of heavy rain and storms still to come. “I think people will end up concluding that at least some of the intensity of the monsoon in Queensland can be attributed to [...]
“Tsunami” like flood hits Queensland
Deadly floodwaters that have cut a swath across northeast Australia seeped onto the streets of the nation’s third-largest city Wednesday, forcing people to flee both suburbs and skyscrapers. City Mayor Campbell Newman said almost 20,000 homes in low-lying areas of the city of about 2 million were expected to be swamped by the time the [...]
Australian floods driven by strongest Southern Oscillation on record
A major La Niña event continues to affect the Pacific Basin. Long-range forecast models surveyed by the Bureau suggest that the La Niña is likely to persist into the southern hemisphere autumn. All climate indicators of ENSO remain beyond La Niña thresholds. The tropical Pacific Ocean remains much cooler than average for this time of [...]
Queensland getting hotter
Queensland is getting hotter, sea levels will continue to rise and the impact of extreme weather will increase, according to a new state government report on climate change. Minister for Climate Change Kate Jones tabled the report – called Climate Change in Queensland: What the science is telling us – in state parliament on Thursday. [...]
